Tanner had hoped that he would be able to have one final sleep before his test today, but as was often the case, life wasn't kind to him. He awoke cold, with sore muscles and a headache that was worse than usual. His mom probably wouldn't let him get away with calling out sick again. He wished he could sleep forever, but perhaps he could rest for a few hours and have one more pleasant dream before he had to face reality.
Tanner sighed and opened his eyes to a dark room. At least it wasn't morning yet. He would still have some time to rest. Tanner reached around and felt… stone, and dirt.
He sat up quickly with alarm. He wasn't in his bed. He wasn't in his room. Tanner's heart beat faster, and his breaths drew short and rapid. He looked around, trying to get a sense of where he was. It was so dark. He couldn't see the sky, and it smelled so musty. The scent of dirt and mud was pervasive, mixed with more foul scents he couldn't quite single out. Screeches and skitters echoed in the distance.
His gaze darted up to the ceiling as something chittered - an unnatural clicking, scratching sound. A shiver crept down his spine.
Tanner scrambled back away from the thing in the corner, tripping over himself as he went. His limbs weren't moving right- something felt wrong.
Tanner watched as a pair of glowing purple eyes opened and illuminated the room, staring at him hungrily. Long legs slowly descended from the shadows covering the ceiling. The gaze of the creature never wavered as it lowered itself down to the ground.
Tanner could hear his heart beating in his ears. If this was a dream, it was a bad one. He could imagine how it would end- With him being attacked and eaten by whatever this creature was. He wasn't going to wait for that to happen. He fought against his disobedient legs, scrambling away from the shadowy predator.
Tanner tried to stay on his feet but kept losing his balance. He clawed at the wall, trying to stabilize himself. Tanner heard a thud behind him and spared only a moment to glance. The creature began crawling closer, moving with the grace of a tiger stalking its terrified prey.
Hyperventilating, Tanner fled. He ran through the darkness, quivering, following the pitch-black corridor as best he could. He crashed head-first into a wall but kept feeling his way through tunnels.
Soon, the guiding walls failed him as the corridor opened to a room. Tanner tried to get a sense of where he was or where he could go. Unlike everywhere else, he could see something - a light source in the middle of the room. It was a glass ball with a soft, blue glow that illuminated the room gently. He ran over and clutched it, treasuring the light.
Tanner could finally see now, though just barely. He was in a dark cave. Shadows danced around the room. His hands… weren't hands. They were paws. He had no thumbs. He looked down at his body-
"What the-"
Tanner spoke with an unfamiliar, high-pitched voice that was interrupted by the sound of too many feet echoing through the corridor, interrupting his examination into what on earth he was. His pursuer had returned.
Tanner again scrambled backwards, this time grasping desperately onto his light source. From the dark corridor, spider-like legs emerged slowly. Two placed themselves gently onto the ground, and two more onto the walls. Moments later, a spider emerged, red and striped with spines poking out of its back like blades.
The spider took another step forward, stalking slowly, as if it knew that its meal could not escape. As if the creature shivering and staring back through fearful eyes was already dead.
The spider raised itself up and pointed its abdomen. Sticky webs shot out towards Tanner. He hid behind the glass ball, though webs still coated the top of his head and ears. He whimpered and tried to run back, eyes fixed on the spider in front of him.
If this was a nightmare, it was about to be over. There was nothing he could do. He was going to be tied up in a web and poisoned so this thing could drink his blood.
Not thinking clearly, he threw the glass ball towards the spider. Maybe he had hoped that it would hit the creature in the head. Of course, the ball slipped out of his not-hands, fell on the ground, and shattered.
There was a flash of bright light. The spider screeched and reared back on its hind legs, before it vanished, leaving Tanner alone. Tanner sighed. It was gone. He was alone and in darkness, with only an oppressive, domineering silence to comfort him.
Time passed, and the heartbeat in Tanner's ears slowly quieted. He waited for a while, just calming down. Occasionally, sounds echoed from the cavern distantly.
What was this? Was it a dream? Last thing he remembered was crossing the street to avoid construction near his apartment. Maybe he tripped and fell and got knocked out. Maybe his night just flew by and he was asleep. Certainly this was bizarre enough to be a dream, but something was wrong. The dirt, the cold hard stone. It hurt too much. Tanner reached up to massage his aching muscles.
He was covered in fur and webs. He did his best to pull the sticky webs off, though they stubbornly clung to him. Tanner pushed on the floor, perceiving hard stones with his pads and claws. His ears flicked around on their own towards some distant sound.
There was also a tail. Tanner had a large, fluffy tail. There was actually a lot of fur everywhere, especially around his neck. Walking was strange but instinctive, now that he wasn't freaking out. This body was quadrupedal - it was easier to balance on all fours.
He couldn't see what he looked like though. It was just too dark. Tanner tried to feel around the ground for anything that wasn't rock or dirt. He found nothing. There was another tunnel that led away from this room, but it sloped downwards. He didn't dare follow it. If he was underground, the last thing he wanted was to go deeper.
He also didn't want to go back to where that spider came from. He didn't want to be here, and he didn't want to go searching for an exit.
Tanner hated this. Every second spent in darkness, every distant screech interrupting the constant beat of dripping water, like a dull song he wouldn't listen to. Every moment gone by, he wondered more and more why he was here, and why it wasn't ending.
He just wanted to go lay in bed and listen to music or play Doom.
Tanner paced for a while, trying to work up the courage to go down one of the corridors out of this room before he slipped and hit his chin on a rock. He winced in pain and laid down next to one of the walls in the room.
It was pointless. He would just get lost or hurt. Tanner would wait.
He didn't try to stop the tears that bled through his eyes, as more and more time passed.
He could only wait for it to end.
He could only wish it would end.
It didn't.
"I'm telling you, sometimes you have to put out the light and trust your other senses. That's how this dungeon works- it shows you the way, if you trust it."
"Not all of us have aura we can use, you know."
"No no no, I didn't even use aura sense. It's about trusting your instincts. Just feeling the dungeon, you know?"
"No."
Tanner opened his eyes. He wasn't sure how long he had been hiding. It felt like hours, but it could have been minutes. There were two voices, one male and one female, growing louder as their footsteps approached.
"Here, here, hang on. Let's try this out- it's a good lesson." The female voice spoke, then one pair of footsteps stopped.
"Tess, we would have found the stairs eventually. In fact, more light would have made the stairs easier to see." The male responded. He had a deep, gravelly voice that echoed through the cave.
"BUT - we didn't find the stairs until the lights went out. This is what I've been saying, the dungeon wants to be explored. It wants to show you its secrets!" The female voice spoke emphatically. She varied her inflection, making her voice sound almost like a song.
"You know I don't buy into that. Sure, dungeons are weird, but there's nothing special there." The footsteps resumed, coming closer to Tanner. There were people here that could help him! Although… what if whoever saw him got scared of a talking… whatever he was?
"You remember Amber-"
"Psychic dungeons are always weird, Tess."
"That was special though. Here, let's try it - I bet this one will teach us a lesson, if we ask for it. Let's put out the light-" Tanner heard a hissing sound, like water being poured on a hot pan.
"You're the worst." The male voice grumbled
"Now, just use your ears and that nose of yours. Just… listen. Feel the dungeon." A moment of silence passed. Whoever was talking, they were close. He needed to say something, he needed to at least try. He couldn't get out of here on his own, and whoever this was, they might be able to help.
"Help me." Tanner whispered in his unfamiliar, too-high-pitched voice.
A gasp. The female voice spoke first "Did you hear that? It's a sign- the dungeon wants to-"
The male voice interrupted. "Is someone there?" A little light shone, reflecting across the rocks in the cavern. It was such a welcome sight- Tanner couldn't bear to be in the darkness anymore.
"Please… I need help." He whimpered. Tanner was still scared. Maybe he shouldn't trust these voices but had no other choice. He heard rushed footsteps, then, to his great surprise, a dog emerged around the corner, followed by another creature that he didn't get a good look at. Bright, painful light shone above them, illuminating the chamber. Tanner winced, turning away from the light.
"Woah. Zorua aren't native to the Shadow Grove, right?" The dog spoke with the deep, gravelly, male voice.
"No, not ghost Zorua. Is it… do you think that he...?" The other creature spoke with her light, airy voice.
Tanner looked over at them pleadingly. The dog, which was black and gray, had a worried expression on his face. The other creature was blue, and had a face, ears, and tail like a dog, but it stood on its hind legs.
"Help… me…" Tanner whispered again, quivering as he spoke. He couldn't take this. He couldn't say more. It was too much. He just wanted it to end.
"Tessa, the escape orb!" The male blurted out.
In a swift motion, the blue creature pulled something out of her bag and walked closer.
"It's okay- we're going to get you out of here." She lifted up the orb, and smashed it on the ground. Tanner winced, as the darkness was replaced by bright, blinding light.