Well now. It's been yet another while, hasn't it?
I hope you will forgive me, of course, but this chapter had a bit more... effort that needed to into it before I felt comfortable to upload it. In that sense, please bear with me if my future chapters also take some time to come out.
With that having been said, sit back and relax, and dive back into this this weird and unknown world...
Chapter 3: Sandy Regret
That night, Cameron had strange dreams.
Dreams that felt neither real, nor imagined.
He dreamt that it was earlier, while Hope was getting attacked… he imagined that he hadn't gone off to save her. That he simply watched the whole thing from the top of the hill.
He felt revolted at himself for simply watching, but he couldn't move an inch.
Just as it reached the peak, the dream shifted. Now it was earlier that night, and Cameron was standing firm against the three zombies.
He was jabbing as hard as he could, but the creatures weren't going down, and it was clear he was about to be overwhelmed.
Just as the zombies reached him and managed to tackle him to the ground, though, the dream ended. Cameron could only imagine where they went afterwards.
Instead, he slowly felt dreams come and go, not really understanding most of them. But then, just as the night was reaching the end…
He had the most wonderful dream. It consisted of him and Hope, lying down in a nice, calm field of grass.
Birds were chirping. A gentle breeze was passing over them.
They were both gazing up at the clouds far above, occasionally with Hope pointing at one that was in a funny shape.
Cameron felt… relaxed. Safe, even. Nothing was coming to hurt him or Hope. Nothing was coming to separate the two.
He looked over. Hope looked… beautiful. There was no other word for it. She looked drop-dead gorgeous.
Hope eventually looked over and noticed Cameron staring at her. They both blushed gently, and looked away.
But, slowly, they looked back at each other. They were each blushing a bit.
Ever so carefully, the pair shuffled closer together, so that they were shoulder to shoulder, and with no hesitation from either they locked hands.
Cameron's heart was beating at a thousand miles per hour. The mere sight of Hope this close was causing him to feel almost dizzy with embarrassment.
Hope gently smiled at him, then looked back up at the clouds, still blushing gently.
Cameron soon joined her. Nothing else happened. The two stayed just like that. Perfectly comfortable with one another's presence, yet never once letting go of the other's hand.
...
Cameron awoke moments later to find himself alone in his shack.
He sat up, yawning. He looked around. Hope was nowhere in sight.
He stood up and brushed off a bit of dirt that clung to his pants.
Shouldering his pack, he stepped outside the door.
It was another sunny day, just like it had been yesterday. A few birds were chirping in the nearby trees, and there was even a rabbit or two hopping around.
Cameron, starting to worry about Hope, started looking around.
Thankfully, Hope actually hadn't gone far at all. She was merely on the other side of the house, gently picking at the flowers.
Cameron quietly approached her, trying not to startle her.
Hope glanced behind her just as Cameron was within a few blocks. "Oh, Cameron! Good morning!"
The tall man waved. He almost opened his mouth to try to greet her, but quickly remembered he wasn't able to speak.
Hope turned back towards the field their house was in, taking a deep breath. "Is it just me, or… does it feel like today is going to be a good day?"
Cameron sat down next to Hope, taking in the warm air. Hope was right. Something about the air just… made it seem like today was going to be a good day. Somehow.
"Oh, Cameron, I meant to ask you yesterday…" Hope started to explain, turning. "Did you ever find anything interesting when you went mining the other day?"
Cameron shook his head. He pulled out of his bag a large stack of stone, which was all he had been able to find thus far.
"Oh… well, that's okay. There's plenty of treasure that you can find simply by just looking around. Maybe we should go exploring today?"
Cameron liked that idea. It seemed only fair to make use of this rather lovely day.
Soon enough, the pair was ready to go, and they started walking towards the west.
The forest was alive with the sound of critters. A few slimes also showed up, but they were few and far between, meaning that Cameron could take care of them with relative ease. Hope seemed pretty happy to be near Cameron, and Cameron was glad to have Hope travel with him.
However, their progress was impeded by something. Cameron felt it before he saw it, really. As they worked their way up, climbing over another large hill, Cameron realized that the sun that had been shining over them for so long was… suddenly missing. Like it had forgotten to come out.
Hope put this into words. "Is… is it just me, or did it suddenly get… colder? Like the sun isn't there anymore…?"
They finished the last climb, and looked up.
Hope's voice came out very small. "Oh."
'Oh' was a bit of an understatement. The pair was looking up at a MASSIVE tree, easily taller than anything else the pair had seen before. It rivaled the clouds above. Honestly, both of the two were silently wondering how they HADN'T seen such a magnificent tree before.
Cameron started moving, walking towards the tree. Hope followed right behind him, albeit a bit more nervously.
Eventually, they got right up to the base of the tree. Cameron placed his hand on the trunk and felt the bark, marveling at the wonder of nature before him.
"This is… a REALLY big tree, huh…?" Hope mused, still in awe.
Cameron nodded, until… he heard something.
He paused for a moment, listening for it again.
Hope saw him. "Cameron, what are you-"
Cameron held a finger to his lips, listening hard.
*whooooohhh…*
The sound of a faint wind. The kind that would come inexplicably from the mouth of a cave.
Cameron held his ear up against the tree.
He heard it again. Wind was definitely coming from inside this tree.
Without thinking, the tall man quickly pulled out his axe, and made a move to swing at the tree.
Hope suddenly yelled, "Cameron, what are you doing?! You can't be thinking of trying to topple this massive thing, can you?!"
Cameron shook his head, and swung.
The axe connected with the tree and… bounced off harmlessly?
Cameron recoiled, surprised and confused. The axe didn't work on cutting down the massive tree?
He tried a second and third time, getting the exact same result each time.
Hope was confused, but nevertheless offered some advice. "Umm, try using your pickaxe instead. I know it sounds wrong, but most things can be broken easier with a pickaxe after having been placed."
Cameron hesitated for a moment, before trading out his axe with the pickaxe. He was almost certain this would never work, and yet he raised his pickaxe and threw a swing anyway.
Almost immediately, the wood appeared to look like it was breaking. Surprised, Cameron threw a few more swings of his pick at the wood, and the block he was striking soon gave way.
Cameron gave Hope a look that said, quite plainly, 'Do I… do I even want to ask?'
"It's better to not question it. If you need to break something, just use your pickaxe. Now, what was so important about breaking a hole in the tree, exactly…?" Hope asked, tilting her head.
Cameron lit up, refocused on his task, turning back towards the hole in the tree he had just created. He looked carefully into it.
He quickly started breaking more blocks, making the hole wide enough for even a man as tall as him to fit through easily. Hope watched his progress with confused eyes, until…
He stepped aside to show Hope what he found. The tree, while solid looking on the outside, actually was hollowed out in the trunk. Hope looked very intrigued at this revelation.
"Oooo, the tree's hollow… at least around here?" Hope whispered curiously, looking up. "But the top is still full, I guess to keep the leaves healthy… nature grows in curious ways, I guess…"
Cameron tapped on Hope's shoulder, then pointed down.
Hope looked back in the hole and glanced down. The tree must've had pretty large roots, because the hollowed out tunnel continued on. And, unless Hope's eyes were playing tricks on her, it clearly looked like there were wooden platforms lining parts of the tree.
"That… isn't something that grows in nature. Does… does someone live down there…?" Hope whispered, sounding both curious and slightly afraid.
The sound of a torch suddenly being lit behind Hope caused the guide girl to whirl around. Cameron had a torch in his left hand, and had put on the wooden helmet of his wooden armor.
"You… you can't be thinking of going DOWN there?!" Hope asked ludicrously. "What if some kind of super terrifying monster lives down there?!"
Cameron hesitated, but glanced at the hole all the same. He seemed to be convinced that there must be something good down there, and even if there was something dangerous, he felt confident in his fighting abilities to handle himself.
Hope seemed nervous regardless. "W-well… if you're sure you'll be fine… b-but give me some kind of signal if it's safe! I-I'll stay up here and make sure nothing comes by…"
Cameron nodded, and entered the cavernous tree. He slowly worked his way down, jumping from platform to platform. Despite the fact that they looked several years old at very least, so much so that vines had grown over them quite thickly, they supported Cameron's weight easily. The platforms were also pretty well spaced out, so with that and the slight curve of the tree, Cameron felt pretty safe jumping from ledge to ledge.
Cameron almost kept going, but suddenly stopped quite far down. Hope noticed this. "Do you see something?" she called out.
Cameron nodded, then waved for her to come down.
Hope glanced nervously from left to right, and then nodded. "Okay… here I come…"
She slowly picked her way down, prefering to lower herself from platform to platform, a move which took her considerably longer than Cameron had. Regardless, she joined Cameron and asked what he saw.
In response, Cameron gestured with his torch. The flickering light illuminated a door, very old by the looks of it, covered in vines and other plants.
Carefully, Cameron knocked on the door.
The door silently opened a little. Not locked.
Cameron and Hope shot glances at each other, before Cameron made the first move. Drawing his sword, he gently used it to push the door, slowly opening it all the way.
The pair stared inside. By the light of the torch, nothing appeared to be moving inside…
Cameron moved forward slowly, torch in one hand, sword in other.
The pair entered and looked around the small room. It looked as though someone had been living here at one point: the place had a few bits of furniture scattered about, a chest covered in vines, even what looked like a well used, vine-covered loom in the corner.
"Wow… this place is really interesting." Hope mused, feeling the table and chairs. Despite their clear age, they still looked like they held up quite well, and even might've been rather decorative.
Cameron, however, had more interest in the chest. He set his torch and sword down, and opened up the chest.
It contained quite a few things: a few bottles holding a bright red liquid, a bag full of small shurikens ('That's… not random.' Cameron thought), some more coins, these a shiny silver color, and more.
Deciding to not completely overwhelm himself just yet, the tall man turned to Hope and held up the strange red bottle.
"Oh, those are health potions." Hope explained. "They're made with the same mushrooms we've been eating back home. They're much stronger than mushrooms alone, so it's a good idea to hang onto a few."
Cameron appeared to agree, tucking them away into a compartment of his tool belt. He also quickly threw the new coins in there for safe-keeping.
"I guess it's fine to take all of this stuff…" Hope mused, looking at the bag of throwing stars and holding one in her hand. "I mean, more than likely whoever used to live here is probably gone…"
It sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anything. Something told Cameron she really wanted to tell Cameron off for raiding the chest.
'If this chest really was owned by someone, then it's their fault for not guarding it better.' Cameron reasoned, digging deeper.
He found something rather interesting inside, and pulled it out to show Hope. It was a long stick, rather unassuming at first glance. Cameron, however, noticed that the end of the stick had a few rather healthy leaves of a deep green on the end, as if the branch was still alive and well. And even without that, Cameron felt something… off about the branch. As if there was some kind of power within the branch.
"Oooh, lemme see that." Hope breathed, forgetting her hesitation of looting. Cameron handed the strange branch to Hope, who squinted at it closely.
"Yep, I thought so." Hope nodded, staring at Cameron with a bit of sparkle in her eye. Seems like she gets really excited when she identifies things like this. "It's a wand. A Living Wood Wand, to be exact."
Cameron gave her a blank stare. If the name was supposed to give him any excitement, it clearly wasn't having the desired effect.
Hope rolled her eyes gently. "It's a fancy block placement tool, basically. You wave it where you want to place a block, and it will place a block of Living Wood where it points. If I had to guess, it's the same kind of Living Wood that makes up this very tree we're in right now. It does use up a piece of wood that you have on hand, though, in order to 'power' the wand, which makes sense."
Intrigued, Cameron dug out of his tool bet a piece of wood from the stack, then took the wand. Despite being at least a meter in size, it was actually pretty light, making it no trouble for Cameron to wave it around a bit and then thrust it forward towards a part of the room where the wall met the floor.
Magically, the wood that made up the floor and wall started looking like it was actually growing right before the pair's eyes, and in no time at all, the exact spot now had a solid block of wood, while the piece of wood Cameron had held in his hand has magically vanished the moment Cameron pointed the wand.
Cameron stared at his new tool rather interested. He was starting to already get some ideas on how to use this very intriguing wand.
"Cool, isn't it?" Hope asked with a grin. Cameron responded with a nod, carefully placing the branch into his bag. How the wand, which was clearly twice, if not three times the size of the bag managed to fit inside was beyond him, but honestly he was starting to understand that this new world he was in had some kind of affinity with magic.
"Well… was there anything else in there? I kinda would like to get moving, the sooner the better…" Hope asked.
Cameron returned to the chest, and dug through it a bit more. He found only a few more things inside: a large quantity of rope, a fairly large bundle of torches, and a few (somewhat crudely) made arrows.
Cameron made sure to double check that nothing else was inside the chest, before closing the lid and nodding to Hope.
"Nothing else? Alright, then let's get moving, okay?" Hope asked.
Cameron nodded, shoving his new stuff into his bag. He shook the bag, feeling it starting to get a little heavy. It was filling up with stuff quite quickly, huh?
Then he glanced over to the perfectly fine chest off to the side.
In moments, joined Hope outside of the little room, a small grin on his face as he quietly pocketed the chest to take home.
A short jaunt back up the tree, and the pair was now back up top to the tree. After a bit of work, Cameron went ahead and cut through the other half of the tree. He was initially a bit hesitant to do so, Hope assured him that the mighty tree would likely not be harmed too greatly.
And just like that, the pair now had easy access through the tree. "It might even be a good safe house, if you think about it." Hope reasoned. "If you are getting chased by something, you can duck down there and hide for a while until things cool off."
Cameron had to silently admit: pretty sound logic.
The pair moved on, curious as to what they would find next.
However, the path forward was suddenly blocked by a new obstacle. A rather… unexpected obstacle.
A desert. A swelteringly hot desert.
Cameron and Hope stood at the edge of the desert. A small cliff stood before them, with a small lake below, and then it was just a mass of sand, sand, and more sand for… as far as the eye could see.
"Ooh… a desert… I knew we'd come to one eventually, but…" Hope mused, looking back. "Maybe… maybe we should head back. Deserts are kinda dangerous places, and… well, you don't have the best equipment right now…"
Cameron, however, was focused on something a fair bit away. A bit into the desert, past a multitude of cacti, there was a large dune in the sand.
And Cameron was almost POSITIVE that there was a strange glint in the sand, that made him think of treasure.
He pointed this out to Hope (with the use of quite a few hand gestures, which Hope initially thought was some kind of complex sign language for saying, 'There's a seal in my sock drawer'). Eventually, Cameron got his point across, and Hope was staring at the odd glint in the sand.
"Oh yeah… I see it too. But… well, I don't know, Cameron, this seems dangerous. There's more than a few dangerous creatures that call the desert home, and… we're not exactly prepared to face it. Let's just head home for the day, then come back again later. Okay?" Hope asked.
Cameron knew that Hope probably was right, and yet… the lure of treasure was getting increasingly inviting to him...
Good Path
Eventually, Cameron saw reason. The most he had for armor right now was mere wood, and his weapons were hardly any better. I mean, sure, he'd gotten a pack of throwing stars (he for some reason thought it was easier to think that than shuriken), but that was the only weapon besides his wooden blade. The arrows he had grabbed were barely any use without a bow.
Cameron looked at Hope and nodded, turning back to look at the massive tree, which still looked very intimidating even though he knew what was inside.
Hope breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I'm really glad you listened. Besides, I just thought of something we should do when we do get home."
Intrigued, Cameron asked with his eyes what Hope had in mind, but Hope simply responded, "Let's wait till we're home safe, okay? I feel a bit… exposed… out here."
Cameron gave her a sympathetic smirk and patted her on the back. Hope blushed, but didn't stop him.
The two made their way back home, which felt relatively quick considering how far they had traveled (quite a fair bit, in hindsight).
However, the pair still made it home with plenty of time left in the day to do more. The welcoming sight of the little wooden hut, despite looking rather box-like, still was a comforting sight.
"Now, what I was thinking." Hope replied. "You know how we built this little hut here? Well, that's a good start. But the thing is… there's more than likely other people out there. Other humans."
Cameron suddenly was at much more attention, sitting straighter in his chair as he stared at Hope. Other humans?
"I'm… not sure if their male or female humans, but they ARE out there, somewhere. And they'll likely be looking for a place to rest and, maybe, even call home. We'll want to be ready for that possibility, so we should build a home for them. Does that sound like something you want to do?"
Cameron nodded vigorously. The idea that other humans were out there, cold, alone, and surrounded with a band of ravenous monster women… he wanted to help them, if that was at all possible.
"Glad to see you're on board." Hope responded happily. She clasped one of Cameron's hands and squeezed it warmly. "I… I know this is a lot, but we're in this together now, so… we need to do whatever we can, right?"
Cameron nodded.
The two sat in silence for a moment, neither of them glancing away from each other. Cameron was once again struck with Hope's incredible beauty. She still hadn't let go of Cameron's hand. Her hands were very soft.
Eventually, Hope seemed to realize just how long the two of them had been staring at each other. Blushing, she slowly let go of Cameron's hand, and quickly broke the eye contact.
Cameron was gazing at Hope quite softly. Despite the fact that the two of them had only known each other for… not two days even, it was clear that Hope had, at the very least, started to develop feelings for Cameron. He wasn't quite sure if that was healthy, developing feelings like that so quickly. And yet, well… to say that he didn't have at least a few feelings of his own would be a bold-faced lie.
In either case, he wasn't complaining. Hope was sweeter than sugar, and she had a rockin' bod to boot. He was almost certain that he'd never get another chance to get close to a girl who was even half as lovely.
Anyway, Hope eventually managed to collect herself and motioned for Cameron to follow.
"So… in order for us to get another person, we'll need another house. Now, either we can create another entire building, like how we made our little hut here, or we can just expand our hut to accomodate for them. Whichever one would be fine, so long as we make the room big enough.
Cameron tried to envision it: a large building, with layers of rooms for anyone to live in. Somehow, while it definitely seemed practical, that felt more like a giant hotel than a place for a group of humans to live.
Cameron nodded to himself, before looking at Hope and holding up one finger, indirectly saying he liked the first option of making a seperate hut.
"Oooh, so you like the little village set-up." Hope responded, her eyes growing a bit sparkly as she imagined it. "That sounds lovely."
Hope then started to explain to Cameron the more specifics of house design. According to her, each house would need a few things before anyone would even think about moving in. They would first need to be modestly sized, and then inside they'd need proper walls, a table ("Or a crafting bench, that technically could be considered a table." Hope explained), a comfort item of some kind, and a bright, constant light source. Oh, and a door, of course.
"So long as you manage to fulfil all of those, the sky's the limit on house design." Hope finished. Cameron made a mental checklist in his mind, then nodded.
He quickly handed her some wood, and, through yet another game of charades, managed to give Hope instructions to build a chair, a door, and a table. Hope nodded happily and went back inside.
Cameron, in the meanwhile, started laying down the framework for what would be the completed house. He quickly broke down some wood using a few wood cutting tools that he totally had in his pocket, eventually making a few walls and building up the back end of the house.
Hope came out a while later, lugging a large, simple wooden table and placing it in front of the little hut Cameron was hard at work making. A few more minutes, and she had also lugged out the chair to go with the table. By the time she finally managed to make the door and get that outside, Cameron had pretty much finished the house itself, and was only putting the finishing touches on the roof.
He glanced down at Hope while still on the roof, holding his arms out in a, 'Well? How about it?' way.
Hope looked at the house, went inside through the little door hole Cameron had left out, and judged the size. When it met her standards, Cameron jumped down and, with Hope's help, lugged the somewhat heavy furniture into the building, followed by the chair, and then the door.
And, for the finishing touch, Cameron placed a few torches on the walls, comfortably lighting up the small hut and filling it with a warm glow.
"And there we go!" Hope replied with a smile. "Now we have another hut out here for any other humans that come by."
Cameron was still a little worried. Who could say that a human traveller could make it safely here on their own? What if there was another human literally just down the way, but he and Hope didn't know cause they didn't think to look?
Hope seemed to read Cameron's face. "I know it seems weird, but there are quite a few humans that seem content to wander the wilderness, despite the dangers. Trust me, they'll find their way here."
Cameron took a deep breath, and nodded. Hope was sure, and that was enough for him.
"Of course, it might take a while, so let's just go back to our home for now, okay?" Hope responded. "I mean, it'd be nice if someone would show up the moment we finished the house, but the odds of that happening are-"
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!*
Bad Ending
Eventually, however, the lure of treasure sitting just beyond the dunes piqued Cameron's curiosity just too much. He was sure that the rewards would be worth the risk.
He solidified his choice by donning his armor. Hope saw that he was going to do it.
"Ohhh… I have a really bad feeling about this…" Hope mused.
Cameron glanced at the guide. With a gentle smile, he gestured towards the way back home. He appeared to be saying, 'Go head back. I'll catch up.'
"Are… are you sure? I don't think it's a good idea, but I still think I should stay with you, just in case…"
Cameron shook his head, then knocked on his armor. While the armor may have been weak, sure, it was still something. Hope only had her normal clothes. That wouldn't offer much protection anyway.
Hope seemed to get the message. Although she didn't like it, she eventually nodded. "Okay… if you're sure. I'll get home and wait for you. But, please, Cameron… the minute that something bad happens, please start running home, okay?"
Cameron nodded, cupping one of Hope's hands with his own. He silently promised to Hope that he'd return to her, safe and sound.
Hope couldn't hold herself back, though. Just to be safe, she quickly wrapped her arms around Cameron's armored torso. Cameron was initially taken off guard, but smiled warmly all the same, and met Hope's hug.
Cameron pat her on the head gently. He was sure he'd be back soon enough.
Hope finally parted from the tall man and gave him one last worried look. "Okay… just, please, come home safe, okay?"
Cameron nodded, before jumping carefully down the mountain and past the little lake.
Once on the ground, the tall man quickly looked up at the dry, baked landscape before him.
Even just standing on the edge, the heat of the desert was laid out before him. He couldn't imagine anyone, human OR monster, wanting to live in such a dry, hot, sun-baked place.
Regardless, he started inside, his shoes sinking slightly into the sand with each step.
It took roughly thirty seconds of hard, tough travel before Cameron started having second thoughts. The glint was actually WAY farther away than he had anticipated now that he was on the same level, the sand wasn't making the trip any easier, and his armor provided basically ZERO ventilation, making him feel like he was roasting over fire.
Despite these concerns, he knew that the treasure inside that glint, hopefully a chest, would be worth all the trouble. And besides, he'd encountered no monsters so far, so what harm could come from going a bit further?
This, in actuality, would turn out to be a massive mistake.
Cameron heard it rather than saw it at first. The sand beneath him… it felt like it was shaking slightly. As if there was something BIG coming his way.
He warily glanced around, but saw nothing… just sand, sand, cactus, sand, yellow-orange blur speeding directly towards him, double cactus, sand, another cac-
Wait. Yellow-orange blur?
Nearby, there was a massive divot in the ground, and coming out of said divot was some kind of yellow-orange blur that Cameron couldn't quite make out. What he COULD see, however, was that it was unquestionably charging directly for him. And it was FAST.
Cameron suddenly decided that whatever treasure was out there, it could wait. He turned tail and started running away as fast as he could, trying to get back to the forest. However, this was a monumental task: the sand was still giving him almost no traction, meaning his steps were doing basically nothing, the sun was still beating down on him as hard as ever, and he was so hot and sweaty that the most he could manage was a light jog anyway.
Meanwhile, whatever that THING behind him was, it was charging towards him at least three times faster than him, and rather than the sand slowing it down, the thing seemed to be using the sand almost like it was swimming, using it's many legs to keep a solid, unrelenting pace.
Wait, many legs?
Cameron risked a glance behind him. By now, the creature had stopped at the top of the nearest hill, a cool hundred blocks between them. Cameron suddenly realized, with horror, that it was some kind of massive bug-like monster.
The top half of the creature looked like a human woman dressed for battle: shiny yellow armor adorned her arms, breasts, and shoulders and front legs, leaving her sandy stomach open to the elements. Around her head, sandy orange hair fell about shoulder length, and a bit more of the armor-like appendages jutted out, almost like horns, or pinchers on a beetle. Even from this distance, Cameron could easily see her solid red eyes, carefully surveying the landscape.
She would've been rather pretty, all things considered, but the rest of her ruined the image: from where a human woman's waist would be, more 'armor' grew from her backside, resulting in an extremely shiny, grotesque bone-like structure over the back of a round, beetle-like body, all of which looked incredibly tough. Four long, gross legs jutted out from under her, and none of them seemed to stop moving, despite her womanly body not moving in the slightest, like a statue. And, even though Cameron couldn't see it that well, he swore he saw some kind of massive stinger-like appendage jutting out from the back half of her beetle body.
Terrified of the giant insect, Cameron tried even harder to run faster, but it was proving impossible with his heavy armor. Throwing caution to the wind, he decided to quickly take off his armor, which was surprisingly easier than you'd think. Now unburdened by the heavy wood, he revived his efforts to run, which actually seemed to slightly make the run easier, until he suddenly heard a loud snapping sound.
The strange incest creature finally seemed to have refocused her target: Cameron. The pincers on top of her head clicked loudly with a disconcerting snapping sound, and the monster started charging, easily covering ten blocks a second, whereas Cameron could only manage three in the same time.
Cameron's fear was only growing, as he quickly started realizing that running away wasn't going to solve his problem, not on it's own anyway.
In desperation, Cameron tossed, piece by piece, his discarded wooden armor, hoping to slow down the massive bug.
It seemed to work, slightly anyway, as each piece discarded seemed to distract the bug as she leaned down to sniff at each piece. Yes, she was sniffing: exactly why was beyond Cameron, but anything to slow down the woman was another moment he could use to get away.
However, there were still twenty blocks left between him and the small lake, and even then there also happened to be a massive dirt mountain to climb. All Cameron had left was his leggings, and the massive bug was starting to bear down on him. She was getting less distracted from the discarded armor.
With a desperate yell, Cameron poured all of his speed on as he tossed back the sweaty armor as if his life depended on it: which, honestly, it did.
The creature, which Cameron had finally realized (although he wasn't sure HOW he realized it) was some kind of Antlion beetle, stared at the armor as it flew over her head. That gave Cameron JUST enough time to get back onto dirt and start towering up using wood he had on hand, desperately trying to get away as fast as possible.
The Antlion Chaser gave up sniffing at the leggings and turned back to resume the chase, but suddenly she found Cameron at the top of the hill. With how fast and desperately he had climbed up, he must've flown up rather than towered.
Finally feeling (relatively) safe, Cameron allowed himself a second to breathe and clutch at his sides, while gazing in glee as the Antlion Chaser stared up at him from the ground.
'Can't get me up here, can you, you bi-' Cameron started to taunt in his head.
That's when the massive bug started slamming into the wall.
And started climbing up.
Cameron gazed in abject horror. By jamming the pinches on her head and her stinger in the back directly into the soft dirt, combined with the constant movement of her many legs and human arms, the Antlion was somehow able to climb a mountain that, to Cameron, should've been impossible to climb.
(How does this work, you ask? Because it makes plot convenience, that's why. Besides, Antlion Chargers in the game are fucking PERSISTENT, so I can almost imagine one doing this.)
Terrified, Cameron continued his mad dash, but he knew that he'd never make it to the house. Even if he could, he had a distinct feeling that he'd be putting Hope in extreme danger. This thing was in a league far beyond what Cameron had seen so far. Hope was right: Cameron should've just gone home and waited with her until-
Suddenly, he had a thought. 'The tree base!' he shouted internally.
It made sense. All he had to do was get down to the tree, and then hide inside of that little tree room down in the roots. Even IF the Antlion could follow him down that far, all he had to do was block the door with stone and he would be safe! Probably. Hopefully.
It was all he had, anyway, so he continued running, his legs in open revolt after running so much and so hard for so long, his breathing continually ragged.
He was halfway there when the Antlion managed to finally get up the hill. The Antlion quickly located him and, with another horrible snapping of the pincers, resumed her chase of Cameron. The only good thing was that she couldn't go as fast, the sand seemed to be her normal turf and she wasn't used to walking on dirt. Despite that, she was still gaining on Cameron as he raced for the massive tree.
It was close, and Cameron very nearly tripped twice on the way, which would've been his death sentence, but somehow he managed to get inside and jump down the tree just as the Antlion would've caught up to him.
He quickly lit a torch and jumped down, almost hearing the Antlion stare angrily at him as he frantically tried to get to his last chance at safety.
He opened the door and looked up just in time to see a massive bug shape literally FALLING directly at his face, mere seconds from crashing into him.
His heart just about stopping, he threw himself inside the room and desperately barricaded the door with stone.
The Antlion outside of the door crashed into the sturdy wood platform, somehow not breaking it in the process, and proceeded to slam into the wooden door with incredible force. And yet, somehow, the door held firm, partly because of the stone behind it keeping it closed, but Cameron could also tell that there was something about the door itself. It must've been the Living Wood itself: apparently that stuff was stronger than meets the eye.
For a few incredibly tense minutes, Cameron held his breath as the Antlion tried her level best to get into the room. She tried breaking down the door, she tried to use her pincers to break apart the wood (which didn't work, because Cameron just as quickly repaired any damage she did with his Wand, a convenient use for it, something he wished he had remembered before, it would've helped a lot), she tried everything she could to brute-force her way inside.
Eventually, the banging stopped. Cameron stood at the ready, tense, expecting more banging to come. When that didn't happen, he waited longer, hoping that maybe the Antlion had gone away.
Risking it, he carefully mined away at the top layer of the rock barricade, and risked a glance outside of the door, through one of the little windows at the top.
Looking through the vine-covered door, he saw the Antlion still standing there, arms at her side and staring directly at the door. Terrified, Cameron re-barricaded the door and waited longer.
He tried again after ten more minutes. Then twenty. Then thirty. The minutes turned to hours.
The hours turned into a day.
And the Antlion had not moved an INCH from her spot just outside the door. Silently watching. Waiting.
Cameron realized that this Antlion was not going to move from her spot, not until either Cameron let down his guard enough to let her in, or until both of them passed on from age.
And Cameron couldn't do anything to fix his situation either. He had already tried the other day to mine his way out, hoping to double back around and maybe seal off the Antlion from the outside, but whenever he tried to dig, the Antlion chose then to launch another particularly hard attack against the door, forcing Cameron to wait by the door just in case she did manage to break it down.
And yet Cameron was exhausted. He had already drained his supply of mushrooms, and he didn't have anything else to eat, not mention that he was hella thirsty. If this game kept going for much longer, he was going to pass on from thirst or starvation.
But the worst thing about this?
Hope.
Cameron couldn't bear to think that Hope, a girl who worried about him constantly and wanted to help him, would almost never know what happened to Cameron. In fact, even if she did, there wasn't much she could really do, was there? She wouldn't be any more effective at fighting this thing than Cameron was.
Cameron could almost imagine it: Hope sitting at the table of the house, waiting for Cameron to walk through that door with treasure he never found, praying and hoping for Cameron to come home safely.
But he didn't.
Another day passed.
Cameron could feel himself losing his mind. Hope was probably going crazy with worry, or worse, she had already decided that Cameron was as good as dead.
The image of Hope, as she realized that her friend was never coming home, was enough to make Cameron realize that enough was enough. He was getting out of here, one way or another.
He started yet again making a hole in the ceiling of the room. The Antlion outside must've heard him, because she started banging on the door yet again, still as strong and ready as ever.
But Cameron didn't care anymore. He had already reinforced his reinforcement with more stone. She hadn't busted in yet, and the odds of her doing it now were slim at best.
Caring not for the Antlion furiously beating away at the door, Cameron dug up, up, up, up, up…
He lost track of time for how long he had been digging, but honestly his internal clock had long since been messed up due to him hiding for so long. Just as he started to think that maybe this was a bad idea, his pickaxe finally broke through the top layer of dirt.
He hopped up the hole, plugged it back with dirt, and marveled his accomplishment. He managed to outsmart the Antlion! Now all he had to do was get home quickly and then-
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud, heart-stopping snapping noise just behind him.
Before he could even turn around in horror, the Antlion smacked him upside the head, knocking him to the ground. With no protection, the blow almost knocked him out completely, but instead he just laid there, stunned and trying to piece together what the hell just happened as his head started throbbing.
The huge, intimidating Antlion stood tall, staring down at Cameron with the same blank look that she always seemed to have.
Afraid for his life, Cameron tried his damnedest to crawl away, but the Antlion had finally caught him well and truly.
She grabbed Cameron by his arms and lifted him up, staring into his eyes with her own pure red orbs. Cameron's heart was beating out of his chest.
She didn't say anything, and that was putting even more fear into Cameron's heart. Was she even able to emote at all?
Cameron struggled useless against the Antlion's hardened grip as she carefully took Cameron not back to the desert, but back towards the giant tree.
She made her way down the tree, much more carefully this time as to not harm herself or Cameron.
Cameron looked behind him (he was facing the Antlion from how she was holding him), and saw that the Antlion had managed to break down the door. However, he realized that once she saw what he was doing, she just went up to the surface and simply waited for him.
She pinned him to the wall and, very carefully, used one hand to remove Cameron's shirt and then his pants. Cameron was growing ever fearful, especially since the Antlion was starting to become a bit excited at this (if her increasing pace at opening Cameron's pants was any indication.)
And before he knew it, Cameron's hard-on was exposed to the stagnant air of the tree base. The Antlion looked at it quite intensely, as though she hadn't expected something so… intense.
Cameron felt ashamed for being turned on, but the Antlion was still incredibly attractive, if you ignored her insect half. And there was something to be said about the tender way she was holding Cameron, the way she delicately took Cameron's clothes off. She was gentle, not tearing them off like some kind of animal.
And then, suddenly, the Antlion raised herself.
And her stinger was suddenly pointed right at Cameron's stomach.
An odd smile played on the Antlion's face while she aimed, while Cameron felt his pale.
Before he could so much as begin to mime a desperate plea of mercy, the stinger of the giant creature plunged itself right where Cameron's belly button was.
Cameron almost felt himself go unconscious. He was deathly afraid of stingers of any kind, and having one suddenly jammed into him with reckless abandon… he was about to go into a shock-induced coma.
And yet… somehow…
The stinger… didn't hurt very much. Not any more than being gently poked by a stick would.
He could very easily tell that it was inside him, of course, but… rather than hurting him any, all it did was feel… like it was just poking him gently.
Something… something was entering his bloodstream by that stinger. He could feel it. It was… making him… feel incredibly aroused… and hot… and…
He let out a small whimper of a moan as his senses were suddenly overloaded by whatever poison the Antlion was currently injecting into him. Or, if it even was. He wasn't sure, and he wasn't about to question the anatomy of an Antlion when he was feeling so good…
His hard-on was quickly becoming unbearable. He could feel his balls working double-overtime to account for the poison. Just staring at the Antlion was making him feel as though he was about to burst…
And then, the Antlion removed her stinger. Where there should have been a significantly large cut, there was little more than a small scar, in a rather strange purple color, but by then Cameron was far too gone.
He wanted something. ANYTHING to relieve himself. But the Antlion just stood there. Holding his arms in place with that same smile on her face.
She silently stared at Cameron as her front legs opened a little wider to show Cameron her moist entrance. Her eyes almost seemed to be alight with mad desire, somewhere deep within.
No longer afraid of her, Cameron desperately pleaded with his eyes for relief. He was literally going to go insane if the Antlion didn't do something to relieve the venom seeping into his body…
And finally, the Antlion obliged. She thrust herself forward with the same speed she had with her stinger, and in moments, Cameron's cock was forcibly pushing the Antlion's wet walls aside.
Cameron moaned in bliss at the Antlion's tight walls. Somehow he didn't immediately blow his load the minute his thing was inserted, but he was rapidly approaching climax either way.
Meanwhile, the Antlion was taking complete charge of the situation, spearing herself on Cameron's hard rod again and again and again, all with that same expression on her face, and yet Cameron could still tell that she was enjoying it: her eyes were her give away. He could see the desire in her eyes, in how she fucked herself ruthlessly against him. How could Cameron have ever once considered her a gross insect before?
And even more importantly, why had he hidden himself from her for so long? If he had known how good this felt, to be rammed in and out of the Antlion's tight snatch…
He moaned louder, trying to warn the Antlion he was about to burst. The Antlion sped up in response, using her front legs to push Cameron even faster. Cameron couldn't hold out for much longer until-
With a loud moan of pure, maddening pleasure, Cameron felt his back arch as he came, the Antlion joining him at almost the exact same time. His cock finally felt sweet relief as he pumped the Antlion full of his baby seed. The Antlion kept him fully inserted the entire time, to ensure that not a single drop was split.
She kissed him on the lips tenderly as he came, showing some concept of love and care even after she brutally fucked herself with him. Cameron couldn't return anything, the poison had taken over too much of his mind…
He felt his grasp of consciousness lose himself. He would fall asleep, however, a happy man. He no longer saw the Antlion as a threat. If anything, she was his wife. His queen, if you will. And that was all that he cared about.
If he had his way, he'd build anything for his Queen. A monument to regale her, and of course, he'd do anything she'd want him to do, just to show how much he had fallen for her.
But just before he passed out, in his last moments of consciousness, he could swear that a gravestone was appearing in front of him (he'd likely remove that the minute he woke up). He could faintly read the words as he drifted off:
"Cameron fell to the might of the Antlion's poisonous grace, and lived the rest of his life worshiping her as the new Queen of the hive."
And now, Cameron was slain...
Wow, this took a lot. You must excuse my lateness in getting this out, but I didn't actually think I'd attempt to make a Antlion into a humanized woman (if you've ever seen so much as a picture of one, you'd understand [don't do it, by the way.]).
Interestingly, I was almost planning for this chapter to not end in a sexy scene. I was going to have Cameron live the rest of his life trapped in that little tree house and in his own thoughts. But eventually I figured that you all came here for sexy times (and that ending felt just a little too macabre for me), so I stopped beating around the bush and came up with a way for Cameron to get on with the rest of his 'life.'
Either way, as late as I am, I do hope that this chapter was at least somewhat pleasurable for you. I also feel as though I should mention: yes, I am aware that Antlion's don't actually poison you in the game. I am also aware that most Antlion Charger does not have the ability to climb up walls, AND that they probably can't chase you down into a living tree, much less have the ability to climb back out.
So please, understand that this isn't going to be exactly like Terraria. It's a story, after all. It becomes 1000% more enjoyable if you don't nitpick every last detail and just read what is (hopefully) a decently written story.
And as for the Antlion having poison, that was partly both a creative decision and a plot device. I'm not 100% sure if Antlion's even HAVE poison or not, and I REALLY would not like to know (because I really don't want to look at the picture of one again, nor do I want nightmares tonight).
Either way, even with all of these creative decisions, I hope that you all understand and can look forward to more story-telling down the road.
Oh, and I remember reading a review at some point before (from a Guest reviewer, I believe?), and I shall make it clear right now: no, the entire story WILL NOT ONLY have scenes of Cameron falling to the monsters (being raped, as it were). However, it would be amiss to also say that, once Cameron starts 'getting it on' that AREN'T him being raped, those will also not be the ONLY kind of NSFW scenes the story will offer. For right now, however, please bear with me as we get to that point in the story. I'm sure you'll understand.
And, as always, until our next meeting…
Stay sexy, my friends. ;3