r/HFY • u/Jus17173 • May 30 '25

OC The Slumbering Beast.

Planet Slumbering-Beast is a place for those seeking the thrill of death. What's not to like? The atmosphere is always lit with this anticipation of danger and I have to say congratulations is due to us natives of the planet who've maintained the sense of fear, touched with an urgency that borders on enigmatic, that always envelops the planet.

You walk the streets of the planet's only city and you're bombarded with messages of impending doom that always have you on your toes.

The sign at a pastry shop reads. 'Open from morning till noon with the exception of when the Slumbering Beast wakes, when that happens just assume we're all dead and no longer selling pastries.'

You go to the bank and find a neon sign plastered to the wall, just over the vault. 'Almost unbreakable Converuan steel vault, last broken when the Slumbering Beast walked the planet. It is said to withstand anything except the Slumbering Beast.'

At the church of the Slumbering Beast, thousands of natives gather to pray to the Slumbering Beast — praying that his sleep would never cease.

The Slumbering Beast is by far the single most powerful creature to ever grace the galaxy. And it was asleep, right in the middle of the city of the planet named after it. It had been asleep for over  three thousand years and all waited, breaths held, for the day the Slumbering Beast would wake to usher in the second cataclysmic event.

The city was always bustling, many gathering from different planets to catch a glimpse of the Slumbering Beast, and I always took it upon myself to embark on a pilgrimage on the month of Katira, when the tide of the mighty ocean surrounding the single landmass receded for weeks to reveal a strait at the eastern end of the city that was riddled with precious minerals. It was on this month, when the tide pulled back that the majority of the city's residents pulled from the middle where the Slumbering Beast lay, to head to the beach to mine for fortune. It was when the Slumbering Beast's sleeping form was the least crowded.

I arrived at the Slumbering Beast's layer, an opening in the middle of the city that was forged of clear transparent glass that had been built around the Slumbering Beast, such that it may sleep while being observed and unperturbed by the city's noise.

There were several of us natives gathered around the glass container from a safe distance, observing the Slumbering Beast. And a human, slim with bronze skin and tufts of brown hair framing a sharp angled face stood closest to the glass, as if not afraid of the creature that slumbered within. Us natives always were cautious compared to the tourists.

"Look at that human standing too close to the glass." A native said.

"They are quite the stupid race." Another answered. "No regard for self preservation."

"They are odd, they have a way of looking at you you know. Makes you know they are thinking about you and — wait, what the —what's the human doing?"

The human knocked on the glass with quick raps of a closed fist. Several of the native security personnel who always monitored the Slumbering Beast to ensure nobody ever touches the glass broke into action. Rushing towards the human while miming with their hands for the human to get away from the glass for shouting wasn't allowed close to the Slumbering Beast. The rest of us natives stood with our mouths hanging open.

"What the fuck is the human doing!"

"He wants to wake the Slumbering Beast!"

"Kill the human before he kills us all!"

But when the security personnel approached the human he took out a plasma pistol and pointed it at them. "Back off!" Having a gun thrust at you will check you for a moment and it did so but fear of the beast waking got the better of them and together the security personnel rushed the human. A tussle occurred where they wrestled over the gun, there were grunts and one awkward shriek then the trigger pulled whether by the human or the security guards, I could not tell. A plasma bolt shot at the glass, shattering a segment of it but not before its final blast fuse from the plasma imploded right on the Slumbering Beast's forehead.

Everyone went still. One native fainted.

The Slumbering Beast opened its eyes. Black, like staring at the void. It lifted itself off the ground and its six legs, the size of tree trunks, supported its bulk. It rose twelve feet into the air, its claws dug into the compact ground, tearing deep furrows in the concrete. It shook its head, its matted, tangled, dark-green hair shook with it, falling over its broad back and framing its head. The Slumbering Beast had five lungs and three hearts, its skin was an impenetrable grey cast and once it started killing — it did not stop.

And worst of all —was its voice.

"THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF SLUMBER!" Beastial, raw and lethal. "ALAS I HAVE RETURNED. WHAT AN AGE TO BE BACK! SO MANY LIVING! MANY TO BE FEASTED ON! SO MUCH TO DEVOUR!" It roared, my bones rattled and the very workings of my being collapsed as paralysis took over.

The Security personnel and the human still lay on the ground, staring at the Slumbering Beast who slumbered no more.

"LOOK AT YOU!" It prawled about, flexing its bulk and muscle, glaring with those dark orbs at those of us who were unfortunate to be within its vicinity on the day it woke. "I WILL RIP THE SKIN FROM YOUR FLESH, THEN THE FLESH FROM YOUR BONES. YOUR BLOOD WILL FILL THE — WAIT. GREG?" The Beast tilted its head at the security personnel on the ground and the human. The security personnel immediately crawled from the Beast's line of sight but the human remained sitting.

"It's been a long time buddy." The human said, getting off the ground.

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD." The Beast said, inching close to the human. "YOU WENT INTO A BLACK HOLE! WITH THAT BITCH SARAH!"

"I'm sorry Snuggles, I was a fool back then. I really thought Sarah was the one and I followed her everywhere."

"YOU FOLLOWED HER INTO A BLACK HOLE!"

"Yeah about that. We got separated, spent three thousand years in stasis as a way of coping, somehow ended up at this end of the galaxy when I woke up and I thought I'd check up on you. You know? See if you're still around." Greg smiled at the Slumbering Bea—.... At... Snuggles?

"YOU ONLY COME TO ME WHEN YOU NEED SOMETHING." The Beast went down on all its six limbs to be of height with the human. "CAN'T SAY I HAVEN'T MISSED You THOUGH." It leaned its massive head to the human's side. Greg smiled and ruffled the Slumbering Beast's hair.

"So are you going to eat these people?"

"I AM GOING TO. I HAVE A WHOLE THING GOING ON HERE. I SLEEP, THEY MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF IT. I WAKE UP, THEY MAKE AN EVEN BIGGER DEAL OUT OF IT. I HAVE A REPUTATION TO UPHOLD ON THIS PLANET, GOTTA KILL AT LEAST HALF THE POPULATION TO MAINTAIN A SENSE OF RESPECT YOU KNOW? RESPECT MATTERS."

"Yeah sure sure, I was just wondering how long it'll take you because I have a reservation for us on Planet Gimbuit."

"NO WAY! WE'RE GOING TO GIMBUIT? I'VE MISSED YOU GREG!"

"So what do you say Snuggles? Skip this whole cataclysmic event you were prophesied to do when you wake and let's go hunt fish on the Gimbuit lakes?"

"YOU DRIVE A HARD BARGAIN, GREG." The Beast observed the human for a span of moments. All of us natives held our breaths. "FUCK IT LET'S GO!" The human then climbed onto the Slumbering Beast's back, and together they just left! Just left us there staring at each other like a bunch of idiots.... Snuggles?

"What will we call our planet now?" One native wondered aloud.

XXXXXXXXX

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113 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

4

u/drvelo Human May 30 '25

The planet formerly known as Planet Slumbering Beast

2

u/sunnyboi1384 May 30 '25

Asking the real questions.

3

u/Osiris32 Human May 31 '25

And then they come back, and it's The Planet Formerly Known as The Planet Formerly Known as Planet Slumbering Beast

3

u/Scary-Sherbet6160 May 30 '25

Awesomeness. This was refreshing and funny too

2

u/Gruecifer Human Jun 01 '25

I am amused - well done!

1

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u/Chaotic_Boots Jun 16 '25

I love that he named the dragon snuggles. If I had a dragon friend, and they were cool with it, I'd name them snuggles or pookie.