#beta despite the zeniths

[marisartcorner]

Guerrilla, please! I never asked you anything... I wouldn't mind if something like this happened in a side-quest! BUT PLEASE!

*Ahen* This is my entry for the Horizon Creation Celebration event hosted by @horizon-events <3

I already wanted to make this artwork long ago, and draw it for the event gave me even more fuel to do so. Most of the art techniques in this piece are experimental, and it's the first time I liked a lineless painting and background I did! I want to practice more those techniques in the future!

[hartlesshart]

Steel Snare

I have many feelings about Beta watching over Aloy during this fight

[horizontwinflames]

Horizon AU: Twin Flames - Aloy, Beta and Elisabet (Zero Dawn Act) final concepts

*texts' transcriptions under the cut after the images*

Nora Beta's design was made by me.

REPOST, EDIT/USE OR FEED MY ART TO AI ISN'T ALLOWED

Read about Isaac, their machine companion [here]

This was... so much work... *falls off* (talking about write all of this story in the past... 5 months omg)

This AU has an ongoing fanfic! You can read on Ao3: [LINK]

Text transcription:

Aloy

172cm/5.6' - 21 years old

In this AU, Aloy is much more aggressive and socially distant than in canon. Although she grew up alongside Beta, so she knows affection and manners. Only Beta and Elisabet know Aloy’s true self: a gremlin, curious, funny, and loving person.

Her aggressive behavior towards other people is a mask and a defense mechanism. She developed such behavior due to how often she had to defend herself and her sister from bullies (and machines too), never allowing herself to lower her guard, also adding how much she internalized the pain from the shunning. Now that she is free to explore the world, she's willing to learn how to manage this behavior with her sister's help to stop fearing the world they want to explore.

Because she's been bottling her negative emotions for such a long time, she has a contained rage she has yet to learn how to use to her advantage. An easy way to trigger her is if Beta gets really hurt (either physically or emotionally).

Beta, her younger sister, is the most important person in her life. Aloy is willing to do anything to ensure her welfare and happiness, even if that means getting herself hurt or worse. Beta is the only person who can get Aloy to speak out her true feelings and thoughts and be a compass to help her how to handle negative emotions better.

Raised on the Nora ways of hunting, Aloy is an excellent hunter in this AU, just like in canon. But here, she’s also a ferocious brawler, and she does not only fight humans in hand-to-hand combat but also small machines. She has an unbelievable resistance to pain, is way more muscular, and is a bit taller than her canon counterpart due to her rather different physical training.

She followed her sister in her curiosity about the Old World, so Aloy started in this AU with much more knowledge about said subject. Just like her sister, she was also indirectly taught by Elisabet herself (through their Focuses) about programming and machines.

Beta

168cm/5.5' - 21 years old (possibly)

In this AU, Beta grew up alongside Aloy as an outcast. She is a skilled fighter and hunter like her sister, much more social and confident than in canon. Although, her confidence ends when she finds herself alone or in a discussion with another person.

Beta had a lot of health issues in her childhood and was way weaker than her sister for a long time. She has always been a scared child, afraid of confrontations face to face with bullies or machines, which led Aloy to protect her all the time they were away from Rost. Her dependence on her sister to protect her always bothered her, as she never liked to see her sister getting hurt, especially on her behalf. Now that she is free to explore the world, she wants her sister’s help to become strong and overcome her fears from childhood. She wants to fight by her sister’s side, not behind her anymore.

She enters a state of silent panic when under unbearable stress, becoming just as aggressive and violent as her sister normally is. The easier way to trigger this behavior is if she sees Aloy in a life-and-death situation.

Aloy, her older sister, is the most important person in her life. Beta is willing to do anything to ensure her sister’s welfare and happiness, even if that means getting herself hurt or worse. Aloy is the only person who can talk some courage and confidence to Beta. She’s also the only person Beta trusts for her safety, allowing her to let her curiosity go wild, especially when it comes to studying machines.

Beta was raised in the Nora ways of hunting, even if a bit later than her sister. But because of her said above issues, she developed a more stealthy and trapper way of fighting. She’s weak to pain and will always try to keep her distance from her target(s). 

When she met Aloy, she was out of memories, not remembering how she got into the underground bunker. She’s not even sure if “Beta” is her name, but she did have some knowledge about the Old World. The only thing she’s sure about is that bad people are searching for her out there.

Elisabet Sobeck

168cm/5.5' - Mid to late 40s

In this alternative universe, Elisabet is being kept alive in a cryosleep state by the Zeniths for a reason she has yet to find out. She can communicate with Aloy and Beta using a holo-avatar through their Focuses because of the “vivid dream state” her unconscious mind is in. Her holo-avatar has two forms: an orange jaybird and her real self.

Although, because of her frozen slumbering state, she can’t recall all of her memories. But she’s slowly being “defrosted,” and it’s a matter of time until she can remember everything. For now, the rising danger called HADES and things related to the Old World and Machines only give her some feeling of familiarity or some random information(s). 

Elisabet has been in contact with Aloy and Beta since they got their Focuses when they were kids, but she could only directly communicate recently. She has acted as an omnipresent guardian, watching the sisters and helping them by controlling their Focuses when necessary. She taught them about basic programming and machines that way.

She has an unexplainable motherly care for Aloy and Beta, which makes her (and the sisters) believe she's their mother- aside from the extreme visual similarity. She doesn't remember how she became a mother yet, but she'll do everything she can to help and protect her daughters.

[giulytheflash]

Simply the Sobeck sisters.

[the-horizon-lounge3041]

Just two Adventures of Aloy and Beta boards I did for fun. Going to start sharing more ideas with this one soon. Basically the first one is from “How to Train your Sunwing” and the second one is one that isn’t named but is about Beta and Lis trying to give Aloy a bath.

[yeehawpirates]

what do you mean this isn’t the plot of horizon 2???

[greybackpack]

So, I was pondering about scars. Thinking? I don’t know. Anyways, scars in relation to the trio.

For Elisabet, right? She lived on a ranch, and if there’s anything I know about living with farm animals, it’s that there’s gonna be some bloodshed. Both yours and theirs. What kind of scars did she get in her lifetime? What lessons did she learn from them? I have a faint scar from one of my mothers chickens, and like, I know now not to bother a hen when she’s stressed unless I can help. (Also my mom has a penchant for picking asshole roosters, but that’s irrelevant.) does she have a burn scar from that pine tree she set on fire? What marks are on her hands from working with robotics? Did Elisabet learn how to weld? What scars did she get during the apocalypse? Did she come face to face with the Plague? What scrapes and bumps and bruises does she have and what did she learn? I know damn well there’s calluses on her feet, because you can’t operate a ranch without breaking in some solid footwear. Did she listen to the lessons about breaking in hiking boots or did she hike in them and bleed? Does she have calluses on her hand, even though I’m sure the digitalization of everything must have made that less pronounced?

Aloy, for sure, has tough feet. The shoes she didn’t wear as a kid is like the practice of acclimatizing children to be able to walk bare feet in order to get thicker soles and stronger skin. (Speaking of which, how in the hell did she not get tetanus or something?) She’s got scars from machines, for sure, like most everyone else does. Which ones taught her to dodge better, to balance quicker, to parry a strike at the right moment? She’s got calluses on her fingertips from bows. Little slices on her hands that indicate blade work? Do her shoulders have scars on them from those slamming attacks watchers do? Torn up skin fro where scrappers caught her with their serrated blades? Broken and healed bones from stampeding striders?Pockmarks and holes from where bullets and lasers hit her? Her palms are rough, because she climbs rocks and trees and probably buildings. Has she ever twisted her ankles? That scar from Helis, on her neck, that taught her the reality of death and loss. What other scars would Aloy carry? What lessons did they teach her?

And Beta, who was forced to live both socially and physically isolated from people. We know she didn’t meet the Zeniths until Earth, basically. Did Eric torment her when they did (this is based on the whole psycho “watch the fear in other people’s eyes as he killed them” thing the dude’s got going on). She who also ripped out that focus/tracker out of the side of her head unhesitatingly the moment she could after realizing what the Zeniths were there to do. There’s a giant scar left on her skull now Did that teach her a little bit about how brave she could be? Did that show her that the spark of bravery and defiance and good that lives in Aloy also lives in her? Is it a reminder that she no longer lives under anyone’s will? That shes brave and lovely and even if there’s a hundred zeniths, Beta’s worth as much if not more than all of them combined? Does it remind her that she’s got people who cherish her for who she is and that she doesn’t have to beg for a scrap of attention and love? Did she get splinters after setting foot on a world not made out of metal and lights and water?

I just think scars are incredibly profound to who someone is as a person and the experiences they’ve gone through. Physically, anyways. Emotional scars can be linked to them, but they’re usually harder to spot right away.

They’re so brave?? They survived so much and yeah they’re not talking about it but they’re learning to live with it and learning to both grieve the experience and then learning the lesson and moving on instead of just avoiding it like Aloy did for the year and a half ish from Rost’s death? That’s incredibly inspiring.

I think that’s why I love this game so much, despite the questionable usage of tribes and savages and a bunch of other things (don’t even get me started on that). The story and narrative is so rich and compelling in how they show Aloy’s physical and emotional journey and the differences in how people process their trauma and experiences and how that’s all okay, because that’s just how things are. It’s just. I love it. I love them.

[spiderlane]

Thinking about how aloy, despite being the only person who can even begin to understand the burden beta is under, treats her the same way the zenith did before they bond. Like a tool, all she cares about is what beta can do for them, because if aloy can be this helpful why can't beta. She holds her up to the same Elizabet standard she holds herself to. I love this part of aloy so much this bitter side of her thst compares everyone to herself for her own benefit and detriment "if I can do it why can't you" "if I went through it alone why should it be any different for you" its not until she extends beta the same empathy and compassion she wished for that she finally understands how toxic this mindset has been for her

Also the artist is @system-threat-detected sorry for not crediting

[neopoliitan]

TEAM RAIN: ARC 4 CH6 - THE PATH LESS TRAVELED

A WRITE UP FOR THE REST OF TEAM RAIN: CHAPTER 6

We return to Zenith. Zelena Braith is still questioning Viorel Braith on what Kamala Braith’s final plans are. We are not told what Zelena was asking about as we open on her asking for a firm confirmation, which Viorel gives.

Zelena rests her head in her hand as she processes this. She says she wants justice as much as the next person, but is unclear what Kamala aims to achieve with her plans. Viorel cuts her off and says they have spent fourteen years trying to render “the machine” operational, and that Zelena should not make the mistake of wasting their time.

Zelena affirms that she appreciates Viorel’s work, and claims that Akane’s semblance has got inside her head. Viorel states that “fools will do as fools will do.”

They’re interrupted by Viola Braith, who skips into Zenith victorious after her “beta test” in Avon. She states global rollout will go off without a hitch. Viorel says there was no doubt it would work as they did the hard work, but are cut off by Sterling Braith, who enters the room and brings up Viorel’s failed plan to recruit the Crazy Bunch. Having not seen Sterling since the start of Arc 3, Viola expresses exaggerated shock at his haggard appearance.

Sterling confronts Viorel and says his new arms aren’t “good enough” and they need to “do better.” Viorel retorts he’ll have to wait till Tahlia and Gardner get home, as the former is the engineer/mechanic of the family - besides, Sterling “is lucky to get anything after such a pitiful display” at Unsei Ridge, and they did a “miraculous job” given the short timeframe they had to work with.

Sterling grabs Viorel by the chest and lifts them off the floor, stating they’ll find out how “miraculous” a job they did when he uses his new arms to break every bone in their body. Zelena looks worried, then glances at Viola, who is clearly getting a kick out of the drama.

There’s a decent-length fight scene between Otso Umber and Raleigh Radcliff. During the fight, Otso lands a direct hit on Raleigh whose aura flares and causes Otso to reel back in pain. 

Raleigh’s semblance is named “Return to Sender.” As the cost of aura, Raleigh will not take damage from enemy attacks - and instead deflect it back onto the enemy as they hit him. The more he focuses, the less damage he will take and the more his attacker will endure.

Raleigh mocks Otso for not recalling his semblance despite their forty-year feud. 

Raleigh: “Doesn’t matter how hard you hit me - you’re the one who feels it.”

Otso: “I’ll take it if it means killing you! You ruined my life!”

Raleigh: “You’re doing a damn good job of that yourself!”

Otso: “Just admit it! You stole everything from me!”

Raleigh swings at Otso and clips his cheek with his hatchet. Otso spins with the momentum, then turns and catches Raleigh off guard, knocking him to the ground with a right hook. Otso swings down with his greatsword, but Raleigh blocks it with his ax and sweeps Otso aside.

Raleigh: “You want the truth? FINE!”

Raleigh: “You would’ve lost us that tournament! You didn’t stack up! I was the only one who did anything about it!”

Raleigh: “I cracked your damn head open so that I could take your place. You would’ve lost anyway.”

Otso is stunned by this revelation, so much so that Raleigh closes the gap and swings his hatchet at him. Otso parries, then uses the opening to drive his greatsword through Raleigh’s gut. Impaled, Raleigh’s knees buckle.

Otso pushes forward, leaning in and forcing his sword out through Raleigh’s back. As the space between them closes with Otso’s push, he yells that they were like brothers once.

Raleigh raises his hatchet. He affirms “we were” and swings at Otso’s exposed neck. In delirium thanks to their shared mortal wounds, the two exchange glances and chuckle, almost seeing their 18-year-old selves again. Then Raleigh swings again and Otso falls.

Raleigh pulls Otso’s sword from his gut, fully aware the wound is fatal, and casts it aside before dragging himself to lean up against his ship. He winces in pain, closes his eyes, then tilts his head to the sky.

After a moment, he hears footsteps.

Gardner Braith enters the clearing. He ponders Otso’s corpse and weapon for a moment, before being distracted as Tahlia Braith calls to him. She warns him that Team RAIN is here and they need to leave. Recognising their task is complete, Gardner picks up Otso’s bloodied sword as proof of his death and the duo hop into the truck they used to get to Faraday.

Team RAIN pursues Tahlia into the clearing to see the truck pulling out. Wil marches forward, saying all he needs is a truck to close the gap - Irving adds that the tyre tracks will basically draw a map to Zenith.

Akane and Robin spot Raleigh and kneel at his side. Robin says they need to get him help, but he tells them not to waste the effort on a dead man. 

Raleigh pulls a photo out of his vest pocket and hands it to Akane, telling her he has a son, Cordovan. He adds he has a daughter, Rosie, by a different mother. He asks her to find them and tell them he’s sorry, and that he’s proud of them. Akane protests that he can tell them himself, but he scoffs that it’ll mean more coming from her - they’ll know she’s telling the truth.

Raleigh slumps. Robin stands up and places her hands behind her head as she takes it in as Akane studies the photo.

The roar of an engine brings them back to the present - Wil announces he’s found a truck that works. Everyone piles in as Akane pockets the photo for later. 

Wil: “Where’s Radcliff?”

Akane: “He didn’t make it.”

Wil: “How well d’you know him?”

Akane: “Barely.”

Wil: “Then we can worry about it later.”

The truck pulls out, in pursuit of the Braiths.

–

Things get much more nebulous from here, as very few scenes are fully scripted (all of the next chapter was written pretty early, though.)

The following would have been a vehicle fight between Gardner/Tahlia’s truck and Team RAIN/PALM’s truck, involving a lot of bumper bashing and side-swiping. 

By the end of the vehicular battle, Tahlia would have climbed out of the sun-roof of the Braith truck, ran along the roof to the back of the vehicle and jumped off, landing in front of the Team RAIN truck. Using her Repulsion Semblance, she would repel the truck off the road and down a bank where it would be trashed.

Tahlia stands at the top of the hill, looking down at the wreck with slight remorse. Gardner pulls up next to her and climbs out of their truck, brandishing his weapon and telling her to get in the truck as she doesn’t need to witness what comes next.

Gardner proceeds to march downhill as Tahlia stares blankly at the horizon. After a moment, she notices something and squints - a blurry figure appears in the distance. She calls out to Gardner, telling him that someone is coming.

Gardner spots the figure too. His eyes widen and he turns, gently pulling Tahlia towards the truck. 

Gardner: “We need to go.”

Tahlia: “But what about–”

Gardner: “Just get in the truck.”

Gardner looks over his shoulder at the stranger.

Tahlia: “Who are they?”

Gardner: “Don’t worry about it.”

The Stranger watches the two Braiths peel away from the scene of the crash as they approach the wreckage. Irving pulls himself out, groaning as his aura flickers. The Stranger’s boot lands in front of him as he looks up worriedly, but he is relieved as the stranger offers a hand to help him up. We see their face is obscured with a hood, with a neckerchief and goggles covering their eyes and mouth.

Stranger: “Here. Let me help.”

–

Hours after the crash, Robin wakes up in a cave, a blanket covering her. She reaches for her sword, but its scabbard is empty. After a brief scan she sees her sword lying against the cave wall, and quietly picks it up. 

She rounds a corner nervously, where we see an obscured close up of the Stranger warming their hands at a small fire, their back to her. Robin slowly creeps up with her weapon, but the Stranger interrupts without turning - telling her that if they wanted any harm to come to her, she’d be dead already.

Robin asks where her friends are, and the Stranger tells her they’re resting - as she should be. Ignoring this, Robin presses further, asking why and how a random stranger would come to rescue them in the wilderness.

The stranger ponders for a moment as they stand up, playing with their fingers. They tell her they’ve been watching the Braiths for a while now. Robin asks why - who are they?

We see over the Stranger’s shoulder as he turns around to face Robin, whose eyes widen.

It’s a man in his fifties, with untidy grey hair that was once black. His eyes are a piercing white - both sclera and iris - ringed with dark circles of age and sleeplessness. He has a streaked, unkept beard, but his expression shows an innate kindness.

Stranger: “Oh, you know… just their father.”

[meggannn]

playing lego horizon has unlocked some old bitter feelings about the sequel in me that i just remembered i never jot down. i think i'm now able to put words to why i never really bonded with the whole beta plotline:

it's partly because in the lead-up to forbidden west's release, i was crossing my fingers that future twists would not come in the form of "more clones!!" and that's exactly what they did (a post for another time)

it's also partly because despite loving sister stories, i didn't find aloy and beta's relationship very compelling or earned

it's also partly because well, this is going to sound cheap, but i do think beta's introduction removes aloy's uniqueness in the plot somewhat. if there's another clone of elisabet sobeck out there in close proximity to the zero dawn facilities who is willing and able to rebuild gaia, then why is aloy still our protagonist, and why isn't this beta's story of starting as a scared girl in space, then rebelling against her masters and learning to rebuild a planet with nothing but the clothes on her back? that game sounds awesome, actually!

obviously, the answer to that question is because this is an action game, and we need a protagonist who can climb rocks and shoot things. aloy was specifically raised to do that. beta's introduction does not threaten aloy in this regard, and it's not like aloy is less of a protagonist now that beta's here... except i do think that beta's inclusion removes something, or has the potential to remove a role that aloy has. i've realized that one of my fears for h3 is that beta will become mission control, which will result in this juxtaposition: aloy is the tough action hero who eats machines for breakfast, and beta is the "nerdy one" who sits back at base and figures out shit that aloy used to, and is still, capable of figuring out on her own.

i think guerrilla wants me to believe beta's girl-in-the-chair role should actually be seen as a good thing, because aloy needs friends to help her save the world and you don't want to spend significant game time on aloy doing coding minigames. but i fear that to make this shift of "aloy doer, beta thinker," they will minimize aloy's intelligence, or maybe her opportunities to demonstrate it, to instead promote engineering and programming as skills that beta brings to the team.

it might be an unfounded fear, because aloy is still certainly smart in fw and is capable of keeping up with tech talk. she spends her life practically living in machine guts and knows them mechanically inside and out. i just think how in zd, they showed how smart aloy is about other things rather subtly: learning to use a focus alone (and presumably learning to read with it too--since the nora rely on oral tradition, rost couldn't have taught her!), figuring out the planet is a sphere all on her own, etc. in fw, she should be even smarter than she was in zd after studying all this old world knowledge alone, but instead we have aloy going "that's too much math :(" when gaia explains the distance the odyssey traveled. now enter beta, who was specifically trained to do this role aloy had thought she would do alone, bring gaia back online--and we know the zeniths' tech is way better than what aloy has access to. beta is much better qualified to fully restore gaia and wrangle hephaestus's runaway code than aloy. the setup for guerrilla to assign roles to the girls is right there, and i'm worried it will pigeonhole them both.

to be clear, i don't think they'll make aloy downright stupid (unless it comes to her struggling with emotional intelligence, which is an actual flaw), and she is able to keep up with various characters' tech talk in fw, which calms this fear somewhat. but overall it's just another niggling concern i have that makes me go :/ when i wonder what was driving them to include beta in this story at all.

[themissakat]

sorry about taking so long to think of words, but i think i finally have good questions.

what are your guesses for where the 3rd game is going to take place? Visit a new location or return to old locations of the first 2? the forbidden west and carja and nora?

How do you think aloy and friends are going to develop? where could the game go to further the character arcs of the squad?

words are hard you're good

gonna put a readmore bc it has a lot of Forbidden West spoilers!!

My first guess would be that we'll see something related to the Oseram homeland, as its the only one of the main tribes (aside from the Quen ofc) where we've met their people but not been to their capital. I don't have 100% certainty on this because the Oseram are the most nomadic of all the tribes we've seen thus far, those guys are everywhere, so its hard to say if visiting a centralized leader would be applicable to getting their support, as opposed to getting in touch with individual groups like the Vanguard at Meridian or the group at Burning Ember.

I think it would be so cool to see the Quen homeland, and I've read some fics that propose the potential use of Zenith tech (like the shuttle, its just hanging out still) to travel those long distances faster. It would be interesting to see if they push the travel that far, as they played a little bit with that in Burning Shores and going to the San Francisco area, but Vegas to San Fran is a little different than crossing the entire Pacific Ocean.

as for the characters, I really hope to see Aloy continue to open up about accepting help from others and not shouldering the entire burden herself. One of my favorite arcs in hfw was how Aloy contended with Elisabet's "legacy", and how she, at first, accepted sole responsibility for it, to the point of pushing everyone else away from her. Her being the "key" to the facilities obviously put her in a place of "if i dont do this, no one else CAN", but I think that the introduction of Beta and the staunch support of her friends really finally pushed her into "it is okay to accept help".

I think that meeting Beta and contending with their differences despite their being genetically identical was a very needed push for Aloy, because it put a mirror up to her experiences and reinforced for her that she IS NOT just a clone of Elisabet, but her own unique person as well. I will keep saying it but their sisterhood breaks me and rebuilds me into a better human, i love them so much sdjfhsd

I do think we'll be seeing a lot of returning cast of course, including Avad and hopefully the Nora as well. I'm very excited for the introduction of Seyka to the greater group, because I'm curious how the writers will handle Aloy actually having a requited romance, instead of just being the subject of a lot of people's attention. ( my thread for talking about hfw is called "Flirting With Aloy Like It's An Olympic Sport" for a reason ).

Despite not being the main focus of the story, there are SO MANY moments where Aloy interacts with romance and attraction that I can't see them not resolving that plot point for her and Seyka. I, personally, expect it to be tied into the concept of "after", of the future she will have once the future of the planet is secured. I personally headcanon that Aloy will struggle with this concept, as she has been completely goal driven her entire life, and to finally achieve that goal is something she has never considered.

I want to meet Federa and Zo's baby ofc. I dont have too many other specific thoughts about character arc resolution for the rest, aside from that I hope Erend finds something worth fighting for, as he has lost SO MUCH and at times seems to be the most lost amongst the group. He has his heart in the right place, but I feel he is very deep in his grief for his sister still, whereas a lot of the other characters have more specific goals or people to inspire them onward.

I can't think of any more specific thoughts atm sjdfd except, Gildun beloved, Burning Embers crew beloved, good characters all around.

[marisartcorner]

"Even though you've been dead for a thousand years... you're the closest person I've ever had of a mother." -Aloy about Elisabet, by the prologue of HFW.

Btw, I'm writing an AU where Aloy and Beta grew up together and Lis is alive, if you're interested ---> @horizontwinflames

[hartlesshart]

“I don’t understand why I need to do this, Aloy”

Inspired by @melikochan‘s adorable scene (read it here)

[horizontwinflames]

They do a stretch xD

Random anatomy/cloth draping practice I did other day. You can also see clearly the sisters' anatomy differences in this AU here.

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

Prompt Submission From Followers #2

Thank you so much for sharing your intriguing submission! I absolutely love your writing style and the suspense you've created. I'm really curious about Zenith too. I'd be thrilled to be a beta reader for one of your works in progress (WIPs) and would love to learn more about your story. Feel free to send me an email if you're interested!

My Email: TheWriteAdviceContact@Gmail.com

Follow the creator of this submission, all credit to them: @fairytaleinagem

Prompt:

“Your character stumbles upon a hidden door in their favorite place. When they open it, they find something completely unexpected.”

Submission:

Despite everyone having left—even their mentors, who usually stayed with them for days at a time—Zenith spoke as if they were talking to someone else. And for the situation, they practically were. "…And where does a talking door lead?" they asked, brows furrowing as they regarded said door once more. White, like the rest of the Aetherium, but with black cracks that felt more like veins, pulsing with gold light. The handle wasn't anything too special, but the fact there was a physical lock on it, crafted with the care and love of a sculptor, made it stand out. The same color as the cracks, but it didn't have any golden lighting emitting from it. Odd. "Good question! That's something that I can only answer after you've opened me," it replied. There was no mouth, no eyes, so all Zenith could look at was the peephole that laid at eye height. "Why would I do that?" "Oh, just do it! It'll only take a moment, I promise!" If it was only a moment… Zenith sighed, before tapping the lock, which fell right off. "Keep that promise, door." The sight of a black void with nothing but a giant snake wasn't what they expected.

If you'd like to submit your writing to my prompt, please fill out the short and easy Google Form below.

“Your character stumbles upon a hidden door in their favorite place. When they open it, they find something completely unexpected.”

Feel free to interpret this prompt in any way that inspires you! Here are a few guidelines:

Keep it short and sweet: Aim for 100-200 words.

Be creative: The more imaginative, the better!

Share your story: Post your response in the Google Form below.

I can’t wait to see what unexpected encounters your characters will have. Happy writing! 🌟

Upload Your Submission Here!

[the-horizon-lounge3041]

Old drawing of Beta from earlier this year