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the-fox-inc · 2 years

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Writing Prompt #1 - Poorly Disguised Mimic

Summary: Jhon had one job. He had to find shelter for his party so they could hide after stealing important documents from a noble. But now, his new personal mission is to find a way to explain to his party why a bed mimic started to follow him around

WARNINGS: Character feels hunger and loneness, light cursing, DND monster, DND dungeon, character is trapped in an underground cave system, fear of being killed/eaten by a DND monster

Word count: 5k

Jhon signed as he walked trough a forest. When he heard the now common sounds of wood scraping on dirt he stopped for what felt like the hundredth time and looked back, just to see a bed walking, noticing its being watched, and then stumbling down with an earthy thud in the middle of the dirt path and trying to fake that a bed in the middle of nowhere is the most common thing ever.

The thief pressed the bridge of his nose with two fingers while a growing headache made itself present, trying to understand this predicament as his belly grumbled in hunger and his limbs started to feel more and more like they're made of lead from his sheer exhaustion...

Everything started when his party decided to split up, and he was made responsible to check ahead in these wood if there are a place they can hide in after they steal important documents from a noble proving they plotted against the king so the party can have their names cleared.

The plan was simple enough, while the bard and cleric tried to gather information about the noble and his house, the fighter and the ranger would prepare their weapons and buy provisions, and finally he was responsible to check the path they would take and caves or shelters they could hide for a few days while the dust settled.

After a few hours walking deep into the dense forest and somewhat far from convencional paths he found a small cave that seemed to be perfect for his party, but ended up falling into a trap - some hidden mechanism so fucking old he was unable to even notice it (he also wasn't expecting to be anything of the sort there).

Said trap was a hidden trapdoor that made him fall a long way down into a dark room inside something that resembled an old dungeon, before promptly shutting; locking him inside without any support whatsoever.

Cursing his rotten luck at the time, the thief decided to check everything he had on his person: a few days worth of food and water, some kits he could use to find and disarm booby traps, lockpicks, some knifes, a potion of healing, some scrols he had previously bought and a long rope.

Jhon considered himself lucky when he managed to find the spell that would grant him with a small light for some amount of time, praising himself for previously marking the scroll with a small denting so he could find it with his hands alone.

After activating the spell, Jhon looked around to see he was inside an underground cave system that didn't seem to have any sort of building carved to it - like when goblins start living in caves and dig into the walls to make small stairs or when the caves have dwarfen origins with bricks aligning the walls.

The thief noticed there were three path he could take, and tried to determine if any of them had any sounds or fresh air, but promptly failed to do so, and then decided to try his luck, marking a small diagonal line and proceeding into the cave.

After a few hours, and backtracking, Jhon started to feel like he was indeed trapped. There was no reason for anyone to build that trapdoor as there were no other traps inside, and apparently no other way in or out.

There was also no indication any life had ever tried to stay there. No fecal matter, bones, blood, anything! The cave was completely empty and stale...

After a few more hours, the thief managed to follow his markings; finding his way back into the first room, under the trapdoor, and attempting to throw one of his knifes, which was combined with one end of the hope, in an attempt at getting it stuck in the rock so he could climb his way back up.

Jhon spend way too long trying that, even though he knew it would be almost impossible to succeed, as the cave system would go farther and farther, making him fear of going too far and not being able to go back towards what he knew was the only exit.

Getting tired, as it may as well be almost a day he has been down there Jhon decides to sit down and cool his head with some of his food and water. He also used another spell that would warn him of enemies near and then decided to sleep in the cold hard floor; his long coat serving as a provisory pillow as his body shivered in contact with the cold ass floor.

The next day, Jhon woke up groggy and still tired from a mostly restless sleep. He had no idea what hour it was, or how long he had slept, but his light scroll was still going, so it must not have been that long. He had no idea when it would stop, but the seller assured him it would go the entire dungeon if needed, and he fucking hoped so because he had paid a pretty penny for the fucking old paper.

Groaning as his bones and muscles ached from being on the floor Jhon got up, attempted one last lucky shot towards the trap door, and then finally gave up and decided to proceed deeper into the caves.

Taking the middle hole the thief started walking, his feather light body fastly covering up ground as he finally started approaching uncharted territory. Now, more cautions of his steps, Jhon proceeded with keen eyes looking around and searching for any more hidden traps, or even enemies that may be hiding further - his nose still giving him the same stale air of the cave.

The thief walked for what felt like hours before finding a big opening with various smaller caverns. Cursing under his breath he proceeded to check every one to see if his nose or ears picked anything that could lead to an exit, and when that failed he started to search each opening, one by one.

Jhon doesn't know how long he has been exploring this dungeon, but he knows his food is starting to run low and his sanity is dwindling. Every shadow and every little noise from the cave is starting to get on his nerves.

He hasn't found anything dangerous per say, but the cave started to get stranger and stranger. He found a small water stream that lead nowhere, but there was a lot of moss and green growth. The thief was sure that if he followed it he would find an exit, but only managed to see that the water would go further down into a portion of the cave that was under water.

The thief also started to hear as if something was scraping on the ground, but he came to the conclusion that it was only a bunch of rocks falling, or some echo from the water stream.

Tiredly, Jhon decided to settle on the moss that night so he could try and have something better than the cold hard floor to sleep on.

The next morning Jhon kept on walking around the caves that were under water and found a big entrance that led to an area full of moss and greenery. Seeing so much green and yellows made his tired body relax for a second before he saw what looked to be a common door in the middle of the moss, with no support whatsoever.

Frowning and rubbing his eyes to try and see if he was not being played by his own mind Jhon blinked when he kept seeing the door there. And it looked OLD. The door had a lot of splints, the metal handle was rusty and the wood seemed to be curved forwards in a tired fashion.

It also seemed to be breathing...?

The gears on Jhon head started turning when he noticed that it was probably a mimic and he cursed himself for never thinking a mimic would take the form of a door. Now the fighter seemed to be the smart one whenever he decided kicking down doors was the best solution for their problems.

What would have happened if he tried to lock pick a mimic door, would the mimic's gigantic chompers get a taste of his head? Or would he be fast enough to avoid the incoming surprise attack?

Shuddering at the though Jhon started to walk backwards when another though hit him... This mimic was down here for who knows how long, as far as he was concerned those things were carnivores and there was nothing to eat in this place, also, the moss was really gross and made him puke, so he was not trying to eat it again.

Looking at his bag he saw he had some stale apples, some old crackers, a single last piece of jerky.

Looking back at the mimic Jhon saw now how it looked really bad, as if it hadn't eaten in over a decade, or even longer. The thing was basically falling apart...

Feeling pity for the monster, who was in almost the same predicament as him, Jhon decided to make an offering. He took the last jerky from his pouch and put it on the floor, in a respectful distance from the mimic. "This is for you, so don't try to eat me or I'll need to actually kill ya!" He softly said with a chuckle. He knew his body was too weak to fight a mimic now, and he might even loose, so maybe this will be enough to make it not try and follow him...

Jhon left that place with questions floating on his head about how mimics behave when they are alone. Did this mimic even choose to be a door or was it born this way... Thinking about it, are mimics even born or do they simply appear? Maybe they are something created?

Shaking his head Jhon simply decided to keep on walking. The further he is from the mimic, the better.

The thief walked for what felt like hours again, exploring further into another opening now with a filled water skin from the stream. He had no luck back there and the mimic seemed to be in a room with no other exit, so he decided to explore another caver just to find another dead end.

Grumbling to himself Jhon started talking about his day, how he saw a ball looking rock and decided to take it with him because it was different from all other; he now had a small collection of strange rocks that varied from sharp, to square, to oval, and now round, little rocks.

"No, no, you don't understand. I could have lock picked that chest, I just needed one more attempt, there was no need to throw it out of the third floor window from a mansion" Jhon said as his eyes unfocused. "Yeah, but there was no need for Eddy to do that! It's just such typical behavior for fighters!" The thief grumbled, talking to himself and simulation a conversation with invisible people.

Signing Jhon started hearing Bruno, the bard, telling how he had to then handle the situation and convince onlookers that they were just moving that chest, and actually managing to convince the guards that the owner actually had asked them to throw the useless chest out of the window, breaking it in the process.

Laughing to himself Jhon proceeded to open his bag to take an apple, just to see that there was no more food inside of it. Dropping his smile the man signed and kept walking back towards the big cave he was currently exploring.

He doesn't know how many days it has been, but he aware that he has slept seventeen times so far, noticing somewhat that the intervals where he needed sleep started to get shorter and shorter. But he was grateful towards the light spell because, aside from the light diming a little from day to day, ut still burns bright enough for him to be able to see his surroundings

Feeling his muscles begging him to stop Jhon managed to push himself forwards until he was on the big cave again and managed to sit down to rest. He drunk his fill from the water skin and regretted a little bit from giving that mimic his jerky, but when he remember the state of that monster he just shrugged, it was probably in worse shape than him.

Laying down with a small thud Jhon saw when a small scroll came rolling out from his bag, the last scroll he had that would alert him from enemy presence. So far he has used three out of five, and tried to save them for only when he can't walk anymore and is too far from somewhere he deems safe.

Jhon mulled in his head if it was wise to use it again and finally decided "why not?" it's not like there anything to lose right now aside from his life, and if this saves him then there's a win.

After casting the spell Jhon didn't even managed to turn his coat into a pillow as his head dropped on the floor and he started sleeping.

Jhon woke up groggy once again and looked around, his body felt heavy and he couldn't get himself to push a single limb up as he felt himself shaking uncontrollably, his nose running and his ears feeling like they're stuffed with cotton.

The thief cursed as he tried to fold into himself and keep some of his heat from escaping into the floor. He started to cough and sneeze, but there was nothing he could do.

Jhon was aware he had a potion of healing on his bag, but he was too weak to even move his hands towards it, so he decided to wait a little and see if he can feel better in a few more minutes before trying to move as he now is staring to feel sick from his stomach as well.

Hearing once more the noises of the cave and shadows moving in his peripheral vision the thief cursed under his breath about his own cautious nature. He hasn't been able to fully relax for a single second since he ended up in this cave because everything can be a potential enemy.

The man tried to blink away the shadows and focus his hearing on his breathing, and for a few seconds he managed to close his eyes and feel his body growing ever so slowly relaxed as he focused on his fast pacing heart and breathing, but the he heard that scrapping noise from the cave.

Cursing again under his breath Jhon opened one eye and froze, his other eye opening very slowly and them both eyes growing very large.

There was a bed in the middle of the cave.

"Shit. Fuck. Motherfuck-" Jhon let out a string of curses. Of fucking course the mimic would come for him. A whole ass fucking meal begging to be eaten by the monster. And now it was even taunting him with the form of a fucking bed, and a good one at that. The bed had even fucking warm looking sheets and a fucking pillow.

He looked at his belt and noticed how his knife was dull, then he looked at the bag and saw that most of his other knifes were also dull, because of all the markings he has been doing on the walls so he won't get lost.

Cursing more Jhon tried to move for his bag and take a knife that looked a little less worn than the others, but his body was weak from whatever sickness he had gotten and his arms felt heavier that the 50 pounds crate that time when Eddy had broken his arm and had already promised an old lady he would help moving some crates on her small store. Jhon felt like he was going to break his back, and now, his arms felt heavier than that.

He heard some scratching and looked up to see that the bed had moved closer. It was roughly twenty feet from him, and now it was what seemed to be thirteen.

Jhon tried to keep his eyes open, staring intently towards the mimic as he knew those monsters tended to not show themselves unless attacked directly, or with an opportunity of attack when someone touched them.

"Como mate. I gave you jerky back there and exchange it for you not eating me right? You remember that right?" Jhon tried to bargain as his head started pounding with an increasing headache. He had managed to ignore it, but now, with his stomach empty and sickness washing over him, there was no avoiding it.

He felt another wave of trembling coming and tried to force his eyes wide, but when his teeth started clenching he couldn't help himself but blink a few times.

The mimic was but a few feet from him now.

"Please, don't eat me yet, I want to try and escape, I want to have a chance!" His voice was now rough. "I just want to go back home to my party. If I die with this sickness you can eat me, but wait until there ok? You waited all this time, just wait a few more days, please?" Jhon begged as his mind started to feel even more hazy and his fever spiked.

The thief felt his consciousness leaving him while he vaguely heard the mimic approached, hoping that he would at least have a fast death and praying the monster wouldn't just eat him alive.

Jhon felt teeth scraping his clothes as he was pulled somewhere warm, a little grateful he wasn't feeling the acid from what he assumed to be the mimic stomach as he finally succumbed to darkness

When Jhon woke a few hours later his mind was still hazy, but he felt warm, layers of blankets covering his body and retaining his heat while a soft mattress and pillow were under his head.

He snuggled deeper into his bed and almost slipped back into dreamland when he felt like something was pulsating inside the mattress. As if there was a slow-beating heart under there somewhere...

When his brain finally filled him in what had happened the previous time he was awake Jhon tried to scramble away, just for the blankets to hold him in a tight grip.

Sweat started coming down from his face as he looked around. His light was still working, but was way dimmer now. He also felt pretty sick and weak, but not in the level of not being able to even walk like previously.

Jhon started to try and find if he had anything on his person, a knife, poison, anything! But he came empty handed as mostly what he had was in his bag, and he couldn't see his bag anywhere.

Also, he wasn't inside the same cave from when this mimic kidnapped? him. It had moved with his sleeping form atop of it, sleeping in the blankets for who knows how long. He couldn't even tell by his hunger because he was hunger all the fucking time now since his food ended.

"Hey there kiddo" Jhon said patting the blanket a little, trying to stay calm as this mimic could decided to eat him at any given second.

When nothing happened he tried talking again "Don't worry, I won't try to get away again ok? I can barely move as it is, I was just startled from when you took me, but you haven't hurt me, so I trust you. Can you trust me back?" He said, not knowing for sure to whom he was lying.

Finally the blankets released some of their grip, letting Jhon breath more clearly as he took again on his surroundings. Then, the word started bobbing up and down - the mimic started to fucking walk again.

Signing Jhon looked up the stone ceiling. Trying to plan what his next action should be, but his foggy mind and warm body betrayed him as he started to grow sleepy again. The thief managed to see that the mimic was walking with some purpose, but he was not sure where.

Before Jhon's mind fell into the sleeping void he noticed how the bed also looked very old and worn, how the wood cracked at every step and how this mimic seemed to be in a bad shape as well.

The next time Jhon woke up he was aware of what had happened almost instantly. The mimic stopped moving like in the first time, but when the human made no attempts to run away, it didn't try to hold him and then resumed their walk.

Jhon, trough his pounding headache, remembered his potion of healing on his bag. He tried to look around for it but when he didn't find it instantly he tried to sit up. This, in turn, made the mimic stop moving as the blankets tried, and managed, to push him back down.

"Hey there buddy" Jhon said trough dried and aching lips, after licking them for some moisture and to alleviate the pain he tried again "I just want my bag. I gad a small potion on it that might help me with my sickness"

The mimic didn't do anything for a few seconds, before a mouth appeared over the blankets, right on top of Jhon who, in turn, felt his blood run cold at the sight of those sharp ass teeth.

Then, the mouth spat out his fucking bag, but promptly ate any knifes that fell from its insides before vanishing. Jhon blinked a few times as he felt the blankets releasing their grasp on his body.

Blinking a few more times in confusion the human proceeded to slowly move his hand towards his bag, and then slowly pulled it near him, feeling the slick saliva that covered his black bag.

Fearing to make any noise Jhon started to rummage trough it when he saw a small blade that was left attached to the rope, alongside the potion.

With fast finger Jhon tried to free the knife from the rope as the mimic bed started walking again. The thief licked his lips once more as he managed to free the knife and hid it inside his sleeve, then, he took the bottle out and opened it.

Smelling the disgusting thing Jhon pinched his nose and downed it all in huge gulps, then he popped the dove back in and put the empty bottle inside his bag.

The man turned his head to try and see where the mimic was taking him, but it seemed like it was a long ass tunnel. Feeling like he was still too weak to try and take the monster on his own Jhon attempted to relax for the ride, but images of him being bitten in half by those sharp teeth's left him awake and alert at all times.

Jhon was going in and out of consciousness during the trip before they finally arrived at what seemed to be a big cave with only one entrance, like the one when he first found the mimic, minus the moss.

His light was almost out now, but he couldn't really blame it. It has been a few days, if not weeks, down here and no dungeon exploration was supposed to last this long.

On the bright side, Jhon felt like he was way better with the potion finally starting to show its effects. On the other hand, they had reached a dead-end space of the cave and now he had no idea what the mimic might try to do.

For now, the bed was simply staying put on the floor and he wasn't sure if it was waiting for him to do something, or if the mimic was imply tired of walking all this way.

Either way, nor mimic nor human moved for the longest time. Jhon trying to think if he was ready to take the mimic on a fight or not, and the mimic simply waiting for something.

Then, the thief finally managed to caught a scent of something different from the stale air of the cave; the scent of old dried blood.

With widening eyes Jhon looked around just to see the skeleton of different animals, some rabbits, birds, and even a few wolfs here and there. The floor was basically littered with bones.

Shuddering Jhon immediately took his knife and lifted it "I told I fucking trusted you and you simply brought me here to see this before I die!?" He said in a broken voice as the knife came down on the sheets, but it's blade was too dull to pierce whatever material this mimic was made of.

Also, a huge gaping mouth now had his hand inside of it.

Jhon screamed as he pulled his hand free, luckily not getting bitten off, but now covered in mimic dribble, as he scrambled to try and get away, but those damn blankets stated to tighten around his body once more.

The thief let a small sob out as he felt the air leaving him lungs, believing he would be crushed under the stress, before the blankets started to relax around him.

Jhon was moved around by moving blankets and mattress as they tried to fell his entire body, searching for another hidden knife. When none was found he was finally let got.

The thief then jumped of form atop the bed in fear, only to notice the mimic was between him and the only exit of this room.

He looked around and took a small bone from the floor to use as a weapon. The bed moved and the top bedframe started to follow the bone around as he moved his arm, but made no attempt to avance on him.

"What the fuck is this mimic even doing" he mumbled under his breath as he remember how the old druid would play with her animals.

Lifting one eyebrow and looking between the bone and the mimic Jhon tried to repeat what she would say. "Do you want this boy?"

The mimic seemed to instantly understand and, as crazy as this may sound, started to run in circles excitedly - totally forgetting about how this human had just attempted to stab it.

Jhon lifted his arm up and simply threw the bone as far as he could into the other side of the cave.

The mimic ran towards it, and now, there was nothing between Jhon and his escape route. The thief looked between the mimic, excitedly searching the bone he had town in a sea of other bones, and the dark exit.

"To hell with it" Jhon said under his breath as he approached the mimic. Even if he ran, he would be lost, and he had no more food. Either way the mimic would find him either still alive or dead. But at least, if he managed to buy himself time, he didn't care what the mimic would do to his body when he was gone.

"Did you find it boy?" He asked with glee, for a second forgetting the aching hole in his stomach as well as all the different kinds of pain he was feeling.

Jhon is not sure how much time passed since he started going with the mimic. It turned into a small routine. Wake up, drink some leftover water, play with the mimic when it stopped walking, get tired, lay back down on top of it, and then drift back to sleep and repeat.

He was morbidly aware that he was growing thinner and thinner by the day, his bones started to show, but he was grateful the mimic never tried to hurt him, other than a few scares.

Once, when he was barely awake, Jhon started to talked to himself out loud, but addressed the mimic, unsure if it could completely understand him, but aware it could to a degree.

"Hey. I don't know what will happen and I'm really weak now. But I'm grateful for what you're doing. Even though this seems crazy, it's better than being alone..."

Jhon signed heavily as his eyes closed.

"Anyways. I know you're not much better than I am. I know sometimes animals may drop down from that trapdoor like I did, but you seem to also be very hungry. So, as long as you let me die naturally, you can have whatever I leave behind. What do you think? Truce?" He said with a small smile, drifting off to sleep.

When Jhon woke up next his mind was foggy, his members felt like lead, and he had no will to open his eyes or even leave the bed. But something was nudging him. Also, this place was way too bright for him to sleep.

Wait.

Brightness?

Opening tired eyes Jhon saw, for the first time in a long time, the sun shining down on him from atop a canopy made of greens and yelows.

Blinking once more Jhon looked around tiredly. And then looked towards a fresh apple on his hand. Blinking once more Jhon bit on the juicy fruit.

"Am I dead? Is this heaven?" He thought as he gave another bite, his stomach finally settling in its endless demand of food.

A sheet wrapped around his hands when he tried to go for a second apple, hunger clouding his judgment as eating too fast after so long without nothing can make him sick again.

Signing Jhon looked towards the bed.

"Thank you so much for taking me outside" He said with a huge grin on his face as he put the leftover apples on his bag. He then got up on wobbly feet and started walking, just to notice the bed was following him.

"I can try and find my way into a town from here, I'll be fine, you can go now" He tried to explain when the bed plopped down.

Turning around and resuming his tiredly walk he heard as the bed moved again after him. Jhon turned around once more and stared.

Now how he is going to explain this to the party?

The End

Why did you give the last of your food to that poorly disguised mimic? You were finally at peace with letting go, but now this odd thing won’t leave you alone and is even turning itself into various items in an attempt to aid you.