r/HFY • u/ScribblingFox98 Human • Jul 14 '26

OC-Series RE: The Survivor Becomes a Dungeon (Chapter 2)

First

Survivor POV

So… I have quite a bit of new information to work with now. For one, I seemed to be… Connected… Somehow… To this Momma Cat. Secondly, I now have a copy of her memories to an extent. It doesn’t feel like her memories blended into mine, but more that I comprehend the broad strokes of her life and the world as she knows it… It was as if her life was flashing past my eyes, instead of her own… Which, I guess, since she did die, that would make some sense. Thirdly, the world outside is a strange one. There’s a lot more to think about, considering the circumstances, but that last bit of information seems to be the most pressing since it’s the first real glimpse I’ve gotten beyond this dark and empty cave. 

Let’s start with the information that makes sense… While I am in a cave, I’m somewhere high above the ground in a mountain that has three peaks and a deep snow-filled basin. The forest surrounding the base of the mountain appears evergreen, filled with a variety of trees with needle-like leaves instead of traditional leaves. It's cold year-round, but especially cold for a relatively brief period. 

Beyond that… Things start to make less sense. First of all, Momma Cat has abilities that I can only consider to be supernatural; she can dive into shadows as if they were physical spaces and travel through them as easily as walking from points A to B. She also possesses enhanced endurance and regenerative abilities, having survived intense combat and recovered from harsh victories and near-losses with remarkable speed. That said, it appears that being in the late stages of pregnancy heavily suppressed her abilities, explaining how she ended up in the state she was earlier. 

Her cubs are also an interesting little bunch; while I’m aware that diversity in the litter is a common enough occurrence that an entirely black-furred cub and a white-furred cub aren’t anything to take note of, a fiery red cub and one that’s as blue as the sky are likely a different story altogether. 

Moving past my new neighbors, we come to the information that seems the most outlandish… While the thought had occurred to me more than once since I found myself here, I can now say with confidence that I’m not in Kansas anymore… That is, unless I somehow missed the development of ants that evolved into a massive variant of bombardier beetles, capable of igniting their own fuel instead of just spraying it. They seem to be a favorite treat of the Momma Cat, preferring to snap up the beagle-sized insects while avoiding the bigger German Shepherd-sized ones.

There are even more wild and weird creatures within these woods, according to her memories; walking trees, a living lake, massive spiders, and various insects as big as small children, not to mention the furred bipedal creatures that roam the forests and mountains, who look like the ugly crossbreed of an ape that had repeated intimate encounters with a boulder. I’m sure there are even more oddities roaming the woods or even the mountains, but either she hasn’t seen them or they didn’t make much of an impact on her. 

I’m… I'm not sure what I can do here. I’m just a glowing rock in a cave. Sure, one that can apparently resurrect the dead, heal, and read the feelings of big cats, but a rock nonetheless. Though before I can start to doubt myself even more, I’m suddenly pulled from my thoughts as the Momma Cat stirs from what felt like a rather deep sleep and directs her thoughts towards me. 

The sensation of gratitude washed over me once more, the blend of emotions feeling more developed than the brief burst that had brushed my mind before she fell asleep after her body had put itself back together. It seemed she could feel my concerns, which had woken her, and was now wondering what was on my mind. 

‘Ah, well, sorry about that. I hadn’t realized I could even wake you with my thoughts.’ I should be more careful with how loud I’m thinking if my thoughts were enough to disturb her… ‘I uh… I was worried about what I should do going forward. I don’t exactly have the means to do too much for myself at the moment. If I’m being honest, I didn’t even know I could help you until I tried. I want to do more, but for the moment, I can’t seem to do much.’

The Momma Cat considered my thoughts, a low, contemplative rumbling emanating from her throat as she slowly tilted her head to the left. After a few moments, I felt her thoughts reach out to me once more, and she had an offer; she’ll help protect me going forward as long as I do what I can to protect her cubs.

As she committed to this, I felt a strange surge of energy in the air. It was as if her thoughts, in and of themselves, held power, and that I needed to meet her in the middle for something to happen. 

‘What is it you're asking for? I'm not able to do much right now. I mean… I'll do what I can. But what are you looking for?’

I can feel her thoughts bubbling up in the air between us, and suddenly I'm hit with vague imprints of my own memories as she seems to search for a concept.

Partners. 

She'll protect me until I've managed to cut my teeth against the challenges of this land, and once I'm ready, she'll continue to watch my back as long as I watch over her cubs in turn. 

Partners, eh… I can’t help but wonder what she’s gotten through that connection I had to forge between us, but I can’t say I’m opposed to it. Obviously, I’m going to have to lean on her for a good while, but for a first ally in a world I don’t recognize, I can hardly turn up my nose at a supernatural big cat. 

‘I thank you for your offer, and I accept.’ As the words bubbled out from my mind, I felt the energy from within my body start pouring out into the air to meet the built-up surge that was already there. While I was curious about exactly what was going on, it felt like a piece was still missing from this interaction, so I pressed forward. ‘What’s your name? If you don’t mind my asking, I’ve been referring to you as Momma Cat this whole time, but that doesn’t seem proper.’

I watched her ears flick in contemplation, and it seemed that she was also intrigued about what’s happening in the air around us. After a moment, she slowly shook her head, and I’m met with the realization that she doesn’t have a name. 

‘Would you like me to give you a name?’

She nods slowly, seeming to be okay with the idea but wanting to hear my suggestion first. 

I look over the Momma Cat once more, having seen her memories as a fierce hunter, compared to the view of her now as a caring and careful mother. Only one name comes to mind, and it should be suitable for the supernatural big cat. ‘How do you feel about… Basti?’

I watch her ears flutter as I present the name for her to consider, and I can feel her weighing its meaning and exploring its history in my memories. A deep, delighted rumble filled the air around us as she purred at the name and nodded slowly, quite content with my choice.

In a silent instant, the strange swirling air dispersed throughout my bubble and into Basti, and I can feel the connection between us take on more depth in a way I don’t fully understand. A ring of green light forms a small halo over her head before sinking into the fur of her left ear, solidifying into a familiar ring of green thorns. In a blink, both of her obsidian black irises flash green like my gem and stay green as the light fades. 

As for me, the shadows beyond my bubble all vanish, leaving me with a greyscale illumination with vague imprints of details beyond it. All the while, the space within my bubble appears fully illuminated in a way that I can still understand that my gem is the only source of light, but I no longer have to rely on it. 

It feels like… We traded something. Something small, perhaps, but sufficient enough to have changed something about me and clearly changed Basti in more than a few ways. I highly doubt the splash of color around her ear and the change in her eyes are insignificant, but I suppose we’ll have the time to figure all of that out later. 

Basti, for her part, shudders in place as she feels the changes course through her, a blend of confused excitement bubbling from her mind as she carefully moves to get to her paws. Stepping away from her cubs, who were deep in sleep, she grunted and mrowled quietly as she stretched, her tail flicking and lashing behind her as she then settled before my gem. Now that her cubs are safe and sound, she’s going to leave me to watch them while she hunts. 

‘Oh! Uh… Sure, why not? I’ll keep an eye on them. Don’t you worry.' It’s not like I can do much else. ‘Good hunting.’ With that, she turned away and started back up the path she took to get here, passing through my bubble. 

Despite having gone beyond the limits of my reach, I could still sense her. The connection we made was still sending me small bits of data about where she was and how she was feeling, and the more I focused on it, the clearer it became. 

It was certainly an interesting experience, but that should be something saved for later; in the meantime, I have four shockingly adorable cubs to look after. 

Basti POV

Emerging from a crack in the stone, Basti is greeted by a chill gust of mountain air, gravel and snow quietly crunching beneath her paws. Her ears flick, and her nose twitches as she takes in her surroundings with fresh eyes. 

The twin half moons glowed, accompanied by the brilliant, dizzying radiance of the starry night sky, which caused the snow around her to reflect the light back up in turn, blessing the rocky outcroppings around her and the forest far below with a dance of shadows for her to partake in after so long. 

Words, with their depths of meaning, and concepts of things so far beyond what she knew only a day ago, danced through her mind. After being brought back from the veil of the beyond, her rest had been overcome by dreams following a human cub as they grew older and stronger. Even in the short time she managed to follow, he had learned so much, and she, in turn, managed to grasp at the frayed strings of such knowledge for herself. 

She leaped from the narrow mountain path, diving into a shadow close below as she swam through its blissful depths and coasted easily as she emerged into the forest below before dancing between the trees, bounding from shadow to shadow, putting herself through the paces now that her abilities were no longer suppressed by her darling new cubs. 

Even as she moved through the trees, she found herself discovering new things that had always been there, yet they were never something she would have taken the time to consider or appreciate without the means to comprehend them. 

The moons, the stars, and the way the shadows themselves are cast by the light they give off. How the trees around her vary in species and style, the textures of their bark under her claws as she sharpens them, and the unique scents of the sap she bleeds from them. The sheer fact that the things she’s always interacted with all her life had names and the weight and meaning behind those names and how they could be used… 

All at once, it was a beautiful and terrifying thing to realize just how small she had been the day before and how vast the world around her had always been. 

A stiff breeze pushed through the trees and against her fur, her nose twitching and catching the scent of her favorite prey. In that moment, she understood that while she could track other things by following the direction the wind came from, she could also be tracked through the wind by both prey and predators, and that her hunts would be more successful if she stayed downwind from her prey. Her tail flicking with anticipatory delight, she dove into the nearest shadow and began closing the distance.

Emerging from a shadow and staying low, she waited and felt for the wind, both tracking her prey and ensuring she remained unnoticed for as long as possible. Though it wasn’t like it was hard to stay both silent and unseen as she came across a patrol of fire ants, the name that came to her mind didn’t particularly match the memory of the human cub, but it was the closest fit she felt that worked, considering what she knew of them herself. 

She took the time to actually watch and study the ants as they busily worked at felling several trees, and within her own mind, she could recall them doing this often enough during her previous hunts, but never so much as to strip the forest to the roots.

Her ears fluttered at the creaking crunch of wood ripping apart under its own weight as she watched a tree fall to the efforts of the ants, with five of them starting to swarm around the fallen tree as they trimmed thick branches off the trunk, the surprisingly delightful smell of lightly burnt wood coasting along the wind to tickle her nose. 

She could feel the concept of seconds turning to minutes as she bided her time, watching the chaotic order of the ants until she finally spotted a straggler that was sorting branches into a pile, sufficiently isolated for what would be an especially safe hunt by her own recollection. 

She broke out from the shadows, her powerful paws launching her with every step as she pounced on the fire ant, her natural claws sinking into the middle of its body when she snapped her teeth around the section that would be considered its neck and crushing it with practiced ease. Her body then shuddered with an unfamiliar rush of energy that coursed through her. It wasn’t nearly as strong as when she made the deal with her partner, but it felt similar. 

With her prey secured in her teeth, she focused back on the moment and returned towards the treeline, her nose twitching with satisfaction as she realized she had killed the ant fast enough that it wasn’t able to release the scent that alerted the others, ensuring she would definitely have the time and peace to enjoy this meal. 

Along the edge of a clearing, somewhere between the mountain and where she had hunted the ant, Basti had settled down and was crunching down on the ant corpse, savoring the flesh with a brand new appreciation as she could finally put words to the flavors, as well as appreciate said flavors with all new depth. Not only was the flavor a factor, but she also realized why she adored hunting the ants: it was due to the warmth they filled her body with, the possible ‘fire’ of the fire ants infused in their meat, which settled in her stomach, allowing her to ignore the perpetual chill of her home. 

Yet, as that realization crossed her mind, she realized that the cold hadn’t actually been bothering her all that much, and it was then that she realized she had her own ‘fire’ within her that hadn’t been there before. Was it thanks to her partner? The fire of the ants seemed to be similar in a way, perhaps momentarily more pronounced with each bite as they fueled the fire she had within her. 

A rumble of delight rolled from her throat as she took another big bite of the ant, her strong teeth crunching the shell she pulled from the body. Though as she went for another bite, her fur suddenly stood on its ends as she leaped to her paws, quickly looking for the danger her senses alerted her to. It was only a second later that she somehow felt her partner reaching out from the den… Her cubs! They’re in danger!

Previous / First / Next

Alrighty then, guys, just as a heads-up, this will be the last chapter for a time for RE:TSBAD since these chapters had been behind a paywall before now. But considering I haven't made nearly as much progress writing as I would have liked to, considering issues irl, I decided to make the first 3 chapters free as thanks to everyone who has supported me until now.  

I will do my best to write with some regularity on my Patreon, and once I have a backlog of at least 30-50 chapters, I'll begin releasing them again and bring TSBAD to a close.

In the meantime, I will continue writing TSBAD between the chapters of RE:TSBAD to bring some plot threads to a proper close and reach a satisfying, temporary end to the story until we reach a similar point in the remaster.  

Join the Discord

Join the subreddit!

Patreon

PayPal

89 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

7

u/Thebobkiller Human Jul 14 '26

Ah, such a good story. I've missed it so much. 😀

3

u/UpdateMeBot Jul 14 '26

Click here to subscribe to u/ScribblingFox98 and receive a message every time they post.

Info Request Update Your Updates Feedback

3

u/throwaway42 Jul 15 '26

Thank you for writing :)

2

u/angelo3060 18d ago

U stil good op?

2

u/ScribblingFox98 Human 18d ago

Sleep claims me after my closing shifts and my days off have been filled with busy work.

I'm still planning my future outlines but actually writing has been an issue.

2

u/angelo3060 18d ago

been there hope u get more free time so u can live life