Inktober 2025!

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

35 minutes ago, Edema Rue said:

Why thank you! I’d like to thank my CNA textbook for inspiring it

(sorry Dragon, no masterpiece today)

Day 5: Deer

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Alternately, moose! It’s been a great day.

 

T^T

that is beutiful tho

[Edema Rue she/her]

34 minutes ago, Honors ghost said:

Luckyyy that’s so cool

19 minutes ago, CoderDrag0n8 said:

T^T

that is beutiful tho

I love my mountains  

[Keke They/he]

On 10/3/2025 at 10:04 PM, Edema Rue said:

Oct 3: Crown

  Hide contents

She’s quite messy, but funner than homework. Words are Heavy is the Crown by Linkin Park.

GESP LINKIN PARN 

[Edema Rue she/her]

58 minutes ago, Hawks said:

GESP LINKIN PARN 

Also it’s from Arcane, so even better  

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

Day 6: Pierce

Spoiler

"This Forare, the Piercer of Gods, is a dangerous foe.

Originally a man, he captured a god.

He became a cursed, and at the time, it was believed impossible for a Cursed to capture more than one god.

We currently believe it to be true.

However, somehow, he captured another.

Thousands of gods, layering on top of each other, he became able to transform into one himself.

At that point, he did a feat that had been perceived impossible.

He killed a god.

Slaughtered one. Pierced it with a sword he summoned from air itself.

He finally found The Blood of The Gods

And that was when he shifted from man to myth.

He was all-powerful, a beast unknown to the world.

He commanded armies of gods, leading them himself.

He was a terrifying beast.

He plagued the realm.

One day, when the first king was searching for the witch, he came across Forare.

Forare was intrigued by the King, and while he was away, he went to the son, and planted the idea of the murder.

After the king was killed and a new one rose to power, Forare spoke of the evil witch.

Forare polluted the new King's mind with stories of the witch's evilness, and convinced him to send an assassin.

He forced the brother into attempting to kill his sister.

And indirectly, the sister into trapping her brother.

But why would he do this?

Forare went to the swamp, pretending to be friendly.

The witch took him in, smiling and free.

However, back at the palace, laid the new King's crownless corpse staying still.

And in Forare's hand, a crown shining bright.

He struck, catching her unaware, as she was killed by a curse she had placed.

With her death, her god flew free, and he thrust the crown in the air.

It scratched the mighty deer, and because of its curse and the power of the wielder,

The mighty deer fell, and he was able to collect it's blood.

Forare stared into the pond, and reached out and pulled Athtar free.

Athtar thanked him, looked down and saw a crown in his gut.

And Forare gained another vial of the Blood of the Gods.

After that, he wandered, as the kingdom scrambled to find a new king.

Who knows where Forare is now." The Jesk finished.

"Oh? You wish to tell me your name?"

The Jesk felt a word land on his ear, and on no one else's.

The Jesk fell back, for he knew the words were no lie. The Jesk's tattoo would have pulsed if he was.

*ding ding*

The door opened and closed, and this tavern would never feel that grace ever again.

"What did he say his name was?" The tavern keeper asked, curious what would produce such a strong reaction.

The Jesk muttered slowly, as if scarred, "Forare."

 

[Honors Spectral Image She/her]

6 minutes ago, CoderDrag0n8 said:

Day 6: Pierce

  Reveal hidden contents

"This Forare, the Piercer of Gods, is a dangerous foe.

Originally a man, he captured a god.

He became a cursed, and at the time, it was believed impossible for a Cursed to capture more than one god.

We currently believe it to be true.

However, somehow, he captured another.

Thousands of gods, layering on top of each other, he became able to transform into one himself.

At that point, he did a feat that had been perceived impossible.

He killed a god.

Slaughtered one. Pierced it with a sword he summoned from air itself.

He finally found The Blood of The Gods

And that was when he shifted from man to myth.

He was all-powerful, a beast unknown to the world.

He commanded armies of gods, leading them himself.

He was a terrifying beast.

He plagued the realm.

One day, when the first king was searching for the witch, he came across Forare.

Forare was intrigued by the King, and while he was away, he went to the son, and planted the idea of the murder.

After the king was killed and a new one rose to power, Forare spoke of the evil witch.

Forare polluted the new King's mind with stories of the witch's evilness, and convinced him to send an assassin.

He forced the brother into attempting to kill his sister.

And indirectly, the sister into trapping her brother.

But why would he do this?

Forare went to the swamp, pretending to be friendly.

The witch took him in, smiling and free.

However, back at the palace, laid the new King's crownless corpse staying still.

And in Forare's hand, a crown shining bright.

He struck, catching her unaware, as she was killed by a curse she had placed.

With her death, her god flew free, and he thrust the crown in the air.

It scratched the mighty deer, and because of its curse and the power of the wielder,

The mighty deer fell, and he was able to collect it's blood.

Forare stared into the pond, and reached out and pulled Athtar free.

Athtar thanked him, looked down and saw a crown in his gut.

And Forare gained another vial of the Blood of the Gods.

After that, he wandered, as the kingdom scrambled to find a new king.

Who knows where Forare is now." The Jesk finished.

"Oh? You wish to tell me your name?"

The Jesk felt a word land on his ear, and on no one else's.

The Jesk fell back, for he knew the words were no lie. The Jesk's tattoo would have pulsed if he was.

*ding ding*

The door opened and closed, and this tavern would never feel that grace ever again.

"What did he say his name was?" The tavern keeper asked, curious what would produce such a strong reaction.

The Jesk muttered slowly, as if scarred, "Forare."

 

Oh that’s good 

I’ll post day five and six a lil later I can’t get them done until like late at night so I have to post them the next day but I promise I’m doing them on time loll

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

Just now, Honors ghost said:

Oh that’s good 

I’ll post day five and six a lil later I can’t get them done until like late at night so I have to post them the next day but I promise I’m doing them on time loll

Full 4-Part Series:

 

[Ink and Embers Any pronouns]

I drew this for Starfish

It's kind of child style but I like it

I do know what actual starfish are but I'm ignoring that 

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

Day 7: Starfish

Spoiler

She was at the beach. It was quite a lovely day, actually.

It is so lovely, a skeleton could be fighting a homicidal child.

She was at one of the tide pools.

Her feet were in the water, and She was staring down at the starfish. They comforted her.

She remembered her parents.

They used to point out fun creatures that would tickle your fingers.

I miss them.

They taught me about the water.

And how magical it is.

The ocean, which harbors all these creatures until the get to the tide pool.

In fact, this beach was special.

It was known for its quickly rising tides.

Here is was.

The tide was rising fast.

She could join her parents in sweet oblivion.

"HEY! HEY! GET OUT OF THE WATER!" A lifeguard yelled at her.

But she felt safe now. Finally safe.

She could be back in her parent's arms.

Safe again.

The lifeguard ran over to her, along with some helpful bystanders.

They grabbed her arms.

No! I want to be with my parents!

She struggled in their grasp, trying to stay under the water.

In the end, they pulled her out,

But not after she was able to get a lot of blood in her system.

She blacked out.

---

"It happened again. She has done this a lot, and there might not be a lifeguard next time to save her."

"What else are we to do?"

"I... don't know."

She woke up. Gasping for breath, finally with the seawater out of her system.

"Are you okay?" One of the doctors asked.

"I... I am now." She replied.

"We would really like it if you didn't... er..." The doctor stuttered.

"Try to die?" She asked. "I wish I still had my parents. We don't all get what we want."

She got up, out of her hospital bed, and walked towards the aquarium they had in the hospital.

She stared into the tide pool, remembering what she had just tried.

The starfish looked up at her, almost like it was saying "You're gonna be ok. People die, but you have to move on."

"Yeah... Maybe I do..." She said.

The starfish twinkled.

"Maybe..." She muttered. "Maybe I do..."

She down into the water, and a bright shining star reflected right over the starfish. Almost like it was the star itself.

 

Edited October 7, 2025 by CoderDrag0n8

[Edema Rue she/her]

Day 7: Starfish

Spoiler

Tide in; tide out.

Tidepool.

Ocean.

Mussels, anemones, seaweed.

Icy wind

Rocky shore

Crashing waves.

Sand whips through the air until

lacerations cover legs.

She has a kite

So do I.

Hers soars

Mine dips

they spiral,

then fall.

Feet in the ocean

Surprised screams

Laughter

She trips

I dive

We swim

then walk.

Cliffs garnished with the brightest starfish, their bodies

pressed

into the tiniest crevices

Surviving

until the ocean returns.

Holding on

until it is pulled, inevitably, home.

She left

but I hold on

until she is pulled, inevitably, home.

Spoiler

Inspo pics from a trip to Oregon this summer:

 

 

Spoiler

also I’m not a lesbian lol, she’s my best friend and she’s in college, this was her senior trip we went on together so it worked

 

 

 

[___ He/Him]

8. Reckless:

Spoiler

James stood at the edge of the cliff, looking out over the sea in front of him. A cold, biting wind whipped his hair, and his eyes watered. He only wore a light, form-fitting flight suit, and he shivered. The wings on his back bumped against him, and he prepared the controls in his sleeve that would unfold them. At the bottom of the cliff, sharp rocks stuck up like a bed of knives, waiting to slice into him. That wouldn’t happen, though; he knew what he was doing. He took a few steps back and stretched a bit. This was what he lived for, the adrenaline pumping through his veins, the feeling of exhilaration as he soared through the sky. 

He walked over to his car and grabbed a pair of clear goggles from a bag inside. He snapped them on, then got in position about a dozen feet from the edge of the cliff, crouching, ready to run. The stony ground under his hands was sharp, and he remembered his gloves. He decided not to get them–they weren’t necessary–and again looked at the grey sky and blue water in front of him. 

Five. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, knowing it would be difficult to breathe once he was in the air. Four. He looked at the water, spotting his target to land on, a small boat. It would be difficult. Three. He thought about the hundreds of times he had done this before. Two. He anticipated the feeling of soaring through the air and began to smile. One. His muscles tensed. Go! He burst out of his crouch, dashing for the edge of the cliff, wind whipping even faster around him. He reached the edge, and leaped out over the void. 

 

Three months later

 

James sat in his car, driving down the streets of San Francisco. He had his flight suit in a backpack next to him. He was planning to drive all the way to the Rockies to do some jumps, and had decided to stop in SF for a bit as a tourist. Now he was in the financial district, stuck in traffic. He sighed and peered down the road, trying to see what the cause of the jam was. It was the middle of the day on a Wednesday, so there shouldn’t be many people on the road, but the whole street was jammed up. He sat back and turned on the radio. It was just static on all the stations. He frowned. That’s strange, he thought. He tried to remember whether it was a holiday or something, but couldn’t come up with anything. He checked his phone, and, surprised, realized that it said ‘no service’. 

Contemplating this, he stared up at the buildings next to him. One of them was the tallest building in the city, the Salesforce Tower, and there were a few others that were shorter beside it. Then he noticed something strange. On one of the balconies of a red apartment building across the road, there was a figure next to a small antenna. He didn’t think much of it until he saw the same thing, this time a few buildings down. What the…? Before he could complete his chain of thought, a loud popping sound rang out in the air. He instantly went on alert. That sounded like gunfire. Without thinking twice, he grabbed his backpack containing the flight suit, then quickly opened his car door, dropping to the ground outside and shutting the door behind him. He slowly stood up, using his car as cover, and peered over the sea of automobiles. 

About twenty-five cars ahead of him, men wearing black masks were pouring out of the surrounding buildings. They were heavily armed. People had started exiting their cars, and they began to scream as they realized the reality of the situation. This was a terrorist attack. One man up ahead tried to run away, off into an alley, but was shot in the back, and he collapsed to the ground. James cursed and ducked his head down. He opened his backpack, frantically rummaging around for… there! He pulled out a small black handgun, a memory from his previous life in the military years and years ago. He made sure the safety was on, then slid it into a holster strapped to his side, under his coat. He picked up his backpack and peeked back over the cars. The terrorists were moving down the line of cars, making people get out and lining them up at gunpoint. He crouched back down and thought for a few moments. Then he looked to the side and eyed the Salesforce Tower. The tallest building in the city, right here. He made a split-second decision and began to run, crouching, towards the skyscraper. 

He weaved in between the cars, the scared eyes of their passengers staring at him as he went by. He made it to the sidewalk and dashed out into the open, towards the glass doors of the building. He heard shouts behind him, and bullets ricocheted all around, one hitting the doors and shattering them. He burst through and ran past the frightened receptionists to the elevators. He came up to the first one and started frantically pressing the button. Come on come on come on, he thought as more bullets ripped through the walls. He grabbed his own gun, took the safety off, and threw a couple of shots back. The elevator doors finally opened, and he scrambled inside, pressing the top button. The elevator doors slowly closed as the receptionists screamed, and James saw a few terrorists running towards the elevator, assault rifles in hand. The doors closed and bullets began to punch through, but the elevator finally began rising. He let out a sigh of relief and slumped to the floor. 

He pulled out his phone, hoping to call 911, but again saw the ‘no service’ message. He put his phone back in his pocket and watched the digital display on the wall as the elevator rose. He was currently at floor 30. He put his gun back in his holster and just sat there for another 5 minutes, still catching his breath. Just as the elevator passed floor 200, he heard an explosion from down below, and the elevator shuddered to a halt. He stood up quickly and listened hard. He could hear men’s voices and feet on the stairs outside the elevator. He quickly located the service panel in the roof of the elevator and reached up to push it out, then jumped and pulled himself through the hole. He then found a ladder on the side of the shaft and began to climb. 

Before too long, he heard a small explosion as the elevator door was blown in, and he looked down to see a couple of black masks looking up at him. Thinking fast, he pulled out his gun and shot the cables holding up the elevator. He heard shouts of surprise and fear as the elevator began to fall. He could still hear feet pounding on the stairs outside the elevator shaft, and he began to climb even faster. Soon enough, he reached the top. There was a small platform at the top with a door next to it, and he opened the door and cautiously stepped out, looking all around. He was on the stairwell and could see the terrorists behind him. 

Spoiler

He began to dash up the stairs, taking them three at a time. Shots flew up the stairs, and he ducked. He soon reached a door at the top, shouts still coming from behind him. He burst out the door onto the roof of the Salesforce Tower. He quickly closed the door and jammed it shut with a conveniently placed metal rod. He then unzipped his backpack and took out the flight suit. He began to put it on. He had the pants part on and was starting to put on the upper part when the terrorists burst through the door behind him. Damn it, he thought, and he began running to the edge. Shots flew all around him, none hitting. The terrorists were possibly descendants of stormtroopers, but who knows. He reached the edge and threw himself off. Below, there were fires, and it looked as if some of the cars had exploded. There still seemed to be no police. The jamming signals were still in effect. 

James tumbled through the air, trying to get the rest of his suit on. Wind roared in his ears, and he couldn’t stop himself from spinning. He got it on and zipped it up, then, still falling, hit the controls on his left arm. Wings opened on his back, and they jerked him up. James soared over SF, moving in the direction of the Golden Gate Bridge. He couldn’t stop himself from laughing with relief and exhilaration. That had been reckless; he could have gotten himself killed many times. 

Ten minutes later, he landed on the roof of a house painted pink, and he called the police. Soon after, military helicopters were flying through the air the way he had come. He had successfully stopped the terrorist attack. He smiled and began to fold up his wingsuit, preparing to call an Uber to take him far, far away from this place.

Didn't have much time to edit

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

Day 8: Reckless

Spoiler

"Please, Dexter." Jackson said. "We aren't allowed to be here!"

"Come on, Jackson. It'll be fun!" Dexter said.

"That's what you said last time, and we got 2 weeks detention."

Today, Dexter and Jackson (Who were infamous across the faculty and students for going on 'adventures' into places they shouldn't be) were crawling into the schools basement, which was explicitly forbidden and had gotten students expelled in the past. But of course, Dexter didn't care. He never did. Jackson however, always cared.

"Yes, and this is how we're getting out of it." Dexter responded.

"By getting ourselves expelled?" Jackson asked. He really didn't know why he kept going on these adventures with Jackson. It never ended well.

"Well, they have to keep me in." Dexter's parent's will stated that this would be the school that he would go to. Apparently, Dexter had gotten into some fight with his parents where they called him reckless, but Dexter didn't like to talk about it.

"They can still expel me!" Jackson exclaimed.

"I wont let that happen. I'll take the blame, and they'll go easy on you like always." Dexter said calmly.

"This is still going too far! They have told us not to go in here multiple times! And how do we respond?"

"By going in here. It is the only logical option if they keep on trying to keep us away. There must be something real nice in here."

Jackson was about to respond, but he saw light at the end of the tunnel and decided to put down the argument. Dexter couldn't be convinced, and after all, the school doesn't even catch them most of the time. Dexter was probably right. We just had to get in and out, fast.

Dexter and Jackson crawled back out of the tunnel, into the light. It was however, a dim one.

"Its... A library? They're hiding a... secret library?" Dexter asked, confused. They were standing at the end of a dusty, cobweb ridden, library.

"A library." Jackson whispered in awe. "A secret library. I wonder what kind of books are in here. Why is it secret?"

"That is a very good question. Who would need to hide a library?" Dexter inquired.

Jackson turned to inspect one of the bookshelves. There's so many new books! There's one about ancient myths, The Real Truth, and even-wait.

Jackson turned over to the book. The Real Truth? What does it mean, The Real Truth?

"What kinda book you got there?" Dexter asked, walking up to Jackson.

"I'm... not sure..." Jackson replied.

Dexter gasped. "The Real Truth? What does that mean?"

Jackson goes to open the book...

"Why are you kids back here?"

Jackson and Dexter turn, and see a janitor standing right there.

"You kids shouldn't be out here!" He exclaimed.

---

"So." The principle said. "You two broke another rule." He sighed.

Jackson looked nervously at Dexter. This isn't good.

Dexter just smiled back, seeming to say It'll be fine!

"Obviously, I cant expel Dexter, but, as per our rules, Jackson will have to be expelled." The principle said.

"WHAT!" Dexter jumped into the air. "You cant expel him!"

"I can and I will, Dexter." The principle said. "he broke the rules, and has no protections."

Jackson was just sitting there stunned. He couldn't speak. He just walked out of the room, Dexter still arguing with the principle.

---

"So, Jackson. Long time no see." Dexter said over the phone.

"Yeah, cause you got me expelled." Jackson replied bitterly.

"Come on, you cant still be mad about that!" Dexter said lightheartedly.

"Yes I can, Dexter, because YOU got ME EXPELLED from school!" Jackson exclaimed. "THIS WOULDN'T OF HAPPENED IF YOU WEREN'T THIS RECKLESS!"

Jackson stopped. He knew Dexter didn't like that, but right now he didn't care.

Jackson hung up. It was Dexter's fault. It was all Dexter's fault, and he deserved being called Reckless. It was all his fault.

Sorry it's so late, stuff was happening today.

[___ He/Him]

9. Heavy

Spoiler

Wake up.

 

Blackness. Unconsciousness.

 

Wake up!

 

A splitting headache.

 

WAKE. UP!

 

My eyes shot open. It was dark, and there was a humming, grinding noise in the background. I groaned and sat up slowly, rubbing my forehead. My hand came away sticky. Where am I? There was a faint light in this place, and I could see large shapes moving all around me. The air smelled of oil and iron. The air felt thick, heavy.

 I got to my feet, but the pain in my head became blinding. I collapsed back to the floor. I looked around again. My eyes had begun to adjust, and I could see that the shapes were large gears turning all around. What is this place? I groped around myself and found a small sack. I eagerly opened it and rummaged around inside. I found a couple of bottles of water, as well as an apple and some jerky. There was also a small medkit. I quickly took some gauze from the medkit and wrapped the wound on my head before drinking some water. I packed the things back in the bag and stood up again, slowly this time. The pain grew slightly worse, but it was bearable. 

 

GO!

 

A word burst in my head. I jumped and felt an unreasonable desire to run fast and far. I slung the pack over my shoulder and began to walk quickly, weaving between the giant gears. The floor was of steel, and each step I took made a metallic thud. I peered as far as I could in front of me. All I could see was the gears extending endlessly, slowly turning. Pipes ran along the ceiling, and steam was in the air. I began to sweat; it was hot in this place. I eyed one of the gears closest to me. Those teeth could crush me like a grape. 

I continued to walk and began to grow tired. I started to see things moving in the shadows, but there was nothing there. The gears steadily grew more plentiful, to a point that I could no longer continue. I let out a long breath. All that walking for nothing. My limbs felt like lead, and I plopped down on the floor. I grabbed the apple from the bag and took a big bite out of it, savoring the sweet juices. I sat there for a little while, continuing to eat the apple, when suddenly there was a loud screeching sound and all the gears stopped moving. I froze with the apple halfway to my mouth. I started breathing hard. An oppressive, irrational fear settled over me. The thick air, full of silence, weighed heavily on me, and my breath began to come faster. It felt like the entire complex of steel was pressing down on me, and I started to weep, tears streaming down my chest. Why am I crying? It felt like I was being crushed by the atmosphere. And then, relief. The gears began to move again. I opened my eyes. Everything was the same as before. I sat there, wide-eyed, wondering if I had imagined what just happened. Am I going insane? The thought frightened me.

 

KEEP. GOING.

 

I stumbled to my feet, grabbed the sack in one hand, and began to run to the left, alongside the wall of gears. My mind felt like mush, and I couldn’t think. It felt like horrible things were chasing me, and I just kept running. The darkness around me twisted and swirled. The gears became a smear of grey in the blackness.

 

…

 

STOP.

I came to a halt and looked around where I was. At some point, the gears had disappeared, giving way to a twisting maze of pipes, all around me. I thought I could see things moving far away in the darkness. I blinked and they were gone. 

 

UP.

 

I looked up, and with surprise realized that the ceiling had vanished, and pipes were stretching up into the darkness. Without thinking about what I was doing, I grabbed one of the pipes. It was uncomfortably hot, and it was slightly slick. I put my foot on another pipe that bent, and began to climb. I climbed, and climbed, and climbed until I could no longer see the ground, and all around me were pipes, and blackness. I felt sluggish. I couldn’t move anymore. Pipes had trapped me on all sides. I started to hyperventilate. What am I doing? Nothing made any sense. The pipes seemed to constrict, pulling in on me. The air was lead. I couldn’t get any oxygen. At some point, I had lost my sack, and I couldn’t drink any water. It was hot. I began to scream, high-pitched and terrifying to my own ears. I couldn’t think. Was I screaming? I don't know. I couldn’t get any air. It was so hot. 

 

Blackness.

 

I woke up. I was lying on something soft. A pillow was under my head. Blearily, I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. Had it all been a dream? I looked at the machine next to me. An IV. I was in the hospital. Noise was coming from a TV in the corner of the room, and I tried to focus on it. It was a news program. Watching it, I understood what had happened to me. A maniac had been kidnapping people and putting them in a giant factory, where he gassed them and made them run through a maze of gears and pipes. The people would hallucinate, and some would go insane. The police just busted him. I felt lighter. I could breathe. I sighed in relief, knowing that I was safe now. I closed my eyes and began to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep, free of pain. Just before sleep took me, I heard a single word, far-off in my mind. 

 

RUN.

 

Slight warning: maybe don't read if you are very claustrophobic 

I'm proud of this one.

[The Great Wyver She/Her]

8 minutes ago, mippo said:

9. Heavy

  Hide contents

Wake up.

 

Blackness. Unconsciousness.

 

Wake up!

 

A splitting headache.

 

WAKE. UP!

 

My eyes shot open. It was dark, and there was a humming, grinding noise in the background. I groaned and sat up slowly, rubbing my forehead. My hand came away sticky. Where am I? There was a faint light in this place, and I could see large shapes moving all around me. The air smelled of oil and iron. The air felt thick, heavy.

 I got to my feet, but the pain in my head became blinding. I collapsed back to the floor. I looked around again. My eyes had begun to adjust, and I could see that the shapes were large gears turning all around. What is this place? I groped around myself and found a small sack. I eagerly opened it and rummaged around inside. I found a couple of bottles of water, as well as an apple and some jerky. There was also a small medkit. I quickly took some gauze from the medkit and wrapped the wound on my head before drinking some water. I packed the things back in the bag and stood up again, slowly this time. The pain grew slightly worse, but it was bearable. 

 

GO!

 

A word burst in my head. I jumped and felt an unreasonable desire to run fast and far. I slung the pack over my shoulder and began to walk quickly, weaving between the giant gears. The floor was of steel, and each step I took made a metallic thud. I peered as far as I could in front of me. All I could see was the gears extending endlessly, slowly turning. Pipes ran along the ceiling, and steam was in the air. I began to sweat; it was hot in this place. I eyed one of the gears closest to me. Those teeth could crush me like a grape. 

I continued to walk and began to grow tired. I started to see things moving in the shadows, but there was nothing there. The gears steadily grew more plentiful, to a point that I could no longer continue. I let out a long breath. All that walking for nothing. My limbs felt like lead, and I plopped down on the floor. I grabbed the apple from the bag and took a big bite out of it, savoring the sweet juices. I sat there for a little while, continuing to eat the apple, when suddenly there was a loud screeching sound and all the gears stopped moving. I froze with the apple halfway to my mouth. I started breathing hard. An oppressive, irrational fear settled over me. The thick air, full of silence, weighed heavily on me, and my breath began to come faster. It felt like the entire complex of steel was pressing down on me, and I started to weep, tears streaming down my chest. Why am I crying? It felt like I was being crushed by the atmosphere. And then, relief. The gears began to move again. I opened my eyes. Everything was the same as before. I sat there, wide-eyed, wondering if I had imagined what just happened. Am I going insane? The thought frightened me.

 

KEEP. GOING.

 

I stumbled to my feet, grabbed the sack in one hand, and began to run to the left, alongside the wall of gears. My mind felt like mush, and I couldn’t think. It felt like horrible things were chasing me, and I just kept running. The darkness around me twisted and swirled. The gears became a smear of grey in the blackness.

 

…

 

STOP.

I came to a halt and looked around where I was. At some point, the gears had disappeared, giving way to a twisting maze of pipes, all around me. I thought I could see things moving far away in the darkness. I blinked and they were gone. 

 

UP.

 

I looked up, and with surprise realized that the ceiling had vanished, and pipes were stretching up into the darkness. Without thinking about what I was doing, I grabbed one of the pipes. It was uncomfortably hot, and it was slightly slick. I put my foot on another pipe that bent, and began to climb. I climbed, and climbed, and climbed until I could no longer see the ground, and all around me were pipes, and blackness. I felt sluggish. I couldn’t move anymore. Pipes had trapped me on all sides. I started to hyperventilate. What am I doing? Nothing made any sense. The pipes seemed to constrict, pulling in on me. The air was lead. I couldn’t get any oxygen. At some point, I had lost my sack, and I couldn’t drink any water. It was hot. I began to scream, high-pitched and terrifying to my own ears. I couldn’t think. Was I screaming? I don't know. I couldn’t get any air. It was so hot. 

 

Blackness.

 

I woke up. I was lying on something soft. A pillow was under my head. Blearily, I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. Had it all been a dream? I looked at the machine next to me. An IV. I was in the hospital. Noise was coming from a TV in the corner of the room, and I tried to focus on it. It was a news program. Watching it, I understood what had happened to me. A maniac had been kidnapping people and putting them in a giant factory, where he gassed them and made them run through a maze of gears and pipes. The people would hallucinate, and some would go insane. The police just busted him. I felt lighter. I could breathe. I sighed in relief, knowing that I was safe now. I closed my eyes and began to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep, free of pain. Just before sleep took me, I heard a single word, far-off in my mind. 

 

RUN.

 

Slight warning: maybe don't read if you are very claustrophobic 

I'm proud of this one.

Huh

That sounds... like a very dark story.

Maniac who kidnaps people, puts them into a factory, then drugs them on 'You-need-to-escape-now' juice? Interesting.

[___ He/Him]

7 minutes ago, The Great Wyver said:

Huh

That sounds... like a very dark story.

Maniac who kidnaps people, puts them into a factory, then drugs them on 'You-need-to-escape-now' juice? Interesting.

Yup

 

[Vielence She/Her]

36 minutes ago, mippo said:

9. Heavy

  Hide contents

Wake up.

 

Blackness. Unconsciousness.

 

Wake up!

 

A splitting headache.

 

WAKE. UP!

 

My eyes shot open. It was dark, and there was a humming, grinding noise in the background. I groaned and sat up slowly, rubbing my forehead. My hand came away sticky. Where am I? There was a faint light in this place, and I could see large shapes moving all around me. The air smelled of oil and iron. The air felt thick, heavy.

 I got to my feet, but the pain in my head became blinding. I collapsed back to the floor. I looked around again. My eyes had begun to adjust, and I could see that the shapes were large gears turning all around. What is this place? I groped around myself and found a small sack. I eagerly opened it and rummaged around inside. I found a couple of bottles of water, as well as an apple and some jerky. There was also a small medkit. I quickly took some gauze from the medkit and wrapped the wound on my head before drinking some water. I packed the things back in the bag and stood up again, slowly this time. The pain grew slightly worse, but it was bearable. 

 

GO!

 

A word burst in my head. I jumped and felt an unreasonable desire to run fast and far. I slung the pack over my shoulder and began to walk quickly, weaving between the giant gears. The floor was of steel, and each step I took made a metallic thud. I peered as far as I could in front of me. All I could see was the gears extending endlessly, slowly turning. Pipes ran along the ceiling, and steam was in the air. I began to sweat; it was hot in this place. I eyed one of the gears closest to me. Those teeth could crush me like a grape. 

I continued to walk and began to grow tired. I started to see things moving in the shadows, but there was nothing there. The gears steadily grew more plentiful, to a point that I could no longer continue. I let out a long breath. All that walking for nothing. My limbs felt like lead, and I plopped down on the floor. I grabbed the apple from the bag and took a big bite out of it, savoring the sweet juices. I sat there for a little while, continuing to eat the apple, when suddenly there was a loud screeching sound and all the gears stopped moving. I froze with the apple halfway to my mouth. I started breathing hard. An oppressive, irrational fear settled over me. The thick air, full of silence, weighed heavily on me, and my breath began to come faster. It felt like the entire complex of steel was pressing down on me, and I started to weep, tears streaming down my chest. Why am I crying? It felt like I was being crushed by the atmosphere. And then, relief. The gears began to move again. I opened my eyes. Everything was the same as before. I sat there, wide-eyed, wondering if I had imagined what just happened. Am I going insane? The thought frightened me.

 

KEEP. GOING.

 

I stumbled to my feet, grabbed the sack in one hand, and began to run to the left, alongside the wall of gears. My mind felt like mush, and I couldn’t think. It felt like horrible things were chasing me, and I just kept running. The darkness around me twisted and swirled. The gears became a smear of grey in the blackness.

 

…

 

STOP.

I came to a halt and looked around where I was. At some point, the gears had disappeared, giving way to a twisting maze of pipes, all around me. I thought I could see things moving far away in the darkness. I blinked and they were gone. 

 

UP.

 

I looked up, and with surprise realized that the ceiling had vanished, and pipes were stretching up into the darkness. Without thinking about what I was doing, I grabbed one of the pipes. It was uncomfortably hot, and it was slightly slick. I put my foot on another pipe that bent, and began to climb. I climbed, and climbed, and climbed until I could no longer see the ground, and all around me were pipes, and blackness. I felt sluggish. I couldn’t move anymore. Pipes had trapped me on all sides. I started to hyperventilate. What am I doing? Nothing made any sense. The pipes seemed to constrict, pulling in on me. The air was lead. I couldn’t get any oxygen. At some point, I had lost my sack, and I couldn’t drink any water. It was hot. I began to scream, high-pitched and terrifying to my own ears. I couldn’t think. Was I screaming? I don't know. I couldn’t get any air. It was so hot. 

 

Blackness.

 

I woke up. I was lying on something soft. A pillow was under my head. Blearily, I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. Had it all been a dream? I looked at the machine next to me. An IV. I was in the hospital. Noise was coming from a TV in the corner of the room, and I tried to focus on it. It was a news program. Watching it, I understood what had happened to me. A maniac had been kidnapping people and putting them in a giant factory, where he gassed them and made them run through a maze of gears and pipes. The people would hallucinate, and some would go insane. The police just busted him. I felt lighter. I could breathe. I sighed in relief, knowing that I was safe now. I closed my eyes and began to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep, free of pain. Just before sleep took me, I heard a single word, far-off in my mind. 

 

RUN.

 

Slight warning: maybe don't read if you are very claustrophobic 

I'm proud of this one.

Mippo. That is SO GOOD. I loved it!! 

EVERYONE REP THIS POST

[The Great Wyver She/Her]

I might do an Inktober thing I just need to think of a good story thing

2 minutes ago, VieB13 said:

Mippo. That is SO GOOD. I loved it!! 

EVERYONE REP THIS POST

BUT MIPO WANTS TO STAY AS A KINGS WIT SO DONT

[___ He/Him]

8 minutes ago, VieB13 said:

Mippo. That is SO GOOD. I loved it!! 

EVERYONE REP THIS POST

Thanks!!!

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

Day 9: Heavy

Spoiler

Luna looked up into the sky. She was named after the moon, and she thought it was beautiful.

It shined up in the sky, reflecting light from the sun. Luna had learned many things about the sky.

Each star up there is its own celestial body. Each on is as big or bigger than the sun!

But it was so far away, it didn't hurt your eyes or appear too big!

And the moon! A giant satellite, floating in space. Massive and heavy, it reflects light from the sun.

When she was under the stars, it didn't hurt as much. The moon so big every day, like it was so heavy it was dropping from the sky.

"Come back inside, honey."

Of course, she could never escape the hospital.

She was bound, shackled there. Every day, they would plug her with tubes and force her to stay still in that bed all night.

Her only consolation was her friend.

Luna called her friend Starfish, because she loved to go to the in-hospital tide pool.

There was a while when Starfish was trying to...

Well, Luna didn't like to talk about it.

And Starfish didn't do that anymore.

So it was fine!

And the doctors never told them why they were here...

But they're happy!

They even get to read books, and are allowed to go to our favorite places!

Like my hill, where I am right now!

"Come back on inside, it's getting late." One of the doctors said.

"But I like it when it's late! I can almost see the milky way!" Luna said drowsily.

"Luna... honey, are you okay?" One of the doctors said, running towards her and catching her right before she blacked out...

---

When Luna woke up, she was in a hospital bed next to Starfish.

Starfish even brought her friend!

"I... I'll be fine..." Luna said, her eyes so heavy.

She had been here the longest, and her heart seemed so, so heavy.

"I... just need to sleep. I'll wake up soon." She said. "You'll s-"

Beep

 

1 hour ago, mippo said:

9. Heavy

  Reveal hidden contents

Wake up.

 

Blackness. Unconsciousness.

 

Wake up!

 

A splitting headache.

 

WAKE. UP!

 

My eyes shot open. It was dark, and there was a humming, grinding noise in the background. I groaned and sat up slowly, rubbing my forehead. My hand came away sticky. Where am I? There was a faint light in this place, and I could see large shapes moving all around me. The air smelled of oil and iron. The air felt thick, heavy.

 I got to my feet, but the pain in my head became blinding. I collapsed back to the floor. I looked around again. My eyes had begun to adjust, and I could see that the shapes were large gears turning all around. What is this place? I groped around myself and found a small sack. I eagerly opened it and rummaged around inside. I found a couple of bottles of water, as well as an apple and some jerky. There was also a small medkit. I quickly took some gauze from the medkit and wrapped the wound on my head before drinking some water. I packed the things back in the bag and stood up again, slowly this time. The pain grew slightly worse, but it was bearable. 

 

GO!

 

A word burst in my head. I jumped and felt an unreasonable desire to run fast and far. I slung the pack over my shoulder and began to walk quickly, weaving between the giant gears. The floor was of steel, and each step I took made a metallic thud. I peered as far as I could in front of me. All I could see was the gears extending endlessly, slowly turning. Pipes ran along the ceiling, and steam was in the air. I began to sweat; it was hot in this place. I eyed one of the gears closest to me. Those teeth could crush me like a grape. 

I continued to walk and began to grow tired. I started to see things moving in the shadows, but there was nothing there. The gears steadily grew more plentiful, to a point that I could no longer continue. I let out a long breath. All that walking for nothing. My limbs felt like lead, and I plopped down on the floor. I grabbed the apple from the bag and took a big bite out of it, savoring the sweet juices. I sat there for a little while, continuing to eat the apple, when suddenly there was a loud screeching sound and all the gears stopped moving. I froze with the apple halfway to my mouth. I started breathing hard. An oppressive, irrational fear settled over me. The thick air, full of silence, weighed heavily on me, and my breath began to come faster. It felt like the entire complex of steel was pressing down on me, and I started to weep, tears streaming down my chest. Why am I crying? It felt like I was being crushed by the atmosphere. And then, relief. The gears began to move again. I opened my eyes. Everything was the same as before. I sat there, wide-eyed, wondering if I had imagined what just happened. Am I going insane? The thought frightened me.

 

KEEP. GOING.

 

I stumbled to my feet, grabbed the sack in one hand, and began to run to the left, alongside the wall of gears. My mind felt like mush, and I couldn’t think. It felt like horrible things were chasing me, and I just kept running. The darkness around me twisted and swirled. The gears became a smear of grey in the blackness.

 

…

 

STOP.

I came to a halt and looked around where I was. At some point, the gears had disappeared, giving way to a twisting maze of pipes, all around me. I thought I could see things moving far away in the darkness. I blinked and they were gone. 

 

UP.

 

I looked up, and with surprise realized that the ceiling had vanished, and pipes were stretching up into the darkness. Without thinking about what I was doing, I grabbed one of the pipes. It was uncomfortably hot, and it was slightly slick. I put my foot on another pipe that bent, and began to climb. I climbed, and climbed, and climbed until I could no longer see the ground, and all around me were pipes, and blackness. I felt sluggish. I couldn’t move anymore. Pipes had trapped me on all sides. I started to hyperventilate. What am I doing? Nothing made any sense. The pipes seemed to constrict, pulling in on me. The air was lead. I couldn’t get any oxygen. At some point, I had lost my sack, and I couldn’t drink any water. It was hot. I began to scream, high-pitched and terrifying to my own ears. I couldn’t think. Was I screaming? I don't know. I couldn’t get any air. It was so hot. 

 

Blackness.

 

I woke up. I was lying on something soft. A pillow was under my head. Blearily, I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. Had it all been a dream? I looked at the machine next to me. An IV. I was in the hospital. Noise was coming from a TV in the corner of the room, and I tried to focus on it. It was a news program. Watching it, I understood what had happened to me. A maniac had been kidnapping people and putting them in a giant factory, where he gassed them and made them run through a maze of gears and pipes. The people would hallucinate, and some would go insane. The police just busted him. I felt lighter. I could breathe. I sighed in relief, knowing that I was safe now. I closed my eyes and began to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep, free of pain. Just before sleep took me, I heard a single word, far-off in my mind. 

 

RUN.

 

Slight warning: maybe don't read if you are very claustrophobic 

I'm proud of this one.

Dang thats good

Edited October 9, 2025 by CoderDrag0n8

[The Great Wyver She/Her]

Alright I got a story folks

Day 9: Heavy

Spoiler

Alie was in the mines. Again.

Day after day after day after day, he'd go to the mines with his heavy pickaxe and mine wealth for those who already have it. Why? Why do you need more when you already have enough? But those were dangerous thoughts. The Lord wasn't stingy about firing his workers. When you were as poor as him, you took what you could get.

Alie walked past tired miners and taskmasters. They wouldn't whip anybody -that was against the law, fortunately- but if they saw you slacking at all your paycheck would be cut in half. Miserable life that, but there were no other jobs to be hand around here.

So again, he raised his pickaxe and chipped off stone block after stone block; occasionally he'd find small bits of metals like iron or fuel like coal. Down here they were common. But as always, he'd hand them to the taskmanagers. Hide any and you would be fired and sued for 'distrustful thievery of valuable objects' or some such nonsense. 

Tink. Again. Click. Again. Clang!. And again. Scrrrrch! -wait. What was that? Alie leaned forward. His pick hadn't hit stone or some other sellable crystal like rubies and whatnot. He'd hit a mysterious pink crystal that he'd never seen before. He hit it with his pick again. Maybe it would be worth something, like a raise. But all the pick did was scratch it.

He investigated it further. It was probably a type of crystal, since it gleamed when the torchlight hit it. But it had to be much more durable then one, as his steel pickaxe barely scratched it and his hammer (meant for cracking rubies) didn't even dent it. He took off his glove and brushed it with his hand. But as soon as he did, he felt a voice... speaking to him?

Hello, Alie.

What- what was that!? He removed his hand immedeatey. What had been that voice? In all his 75 years, Alie had never heard a crystal talking to him. But crystals didn't speak. It had to have been some other miner messing with him- Bob, the new blood, probably. He liked messing around. He looked behind him. Bob was no where to be seen. There was, however, stern looking taskmanagers. So he turned around fast as he could and mined next to the mysterious crystal. Each time the pick made a clink or clang, however, he glanced at it. There was... something about it. Something he needed to know. Something he needed  to feel.

Again, Alie tried resisting the urge. He lived paycheck to paycheck; he needed to keep working. But still, the crystal just... lay there. Tempting. Once again, he couldn't resist the urge to just feel the smooth crystal; he had to know more about the voice.

Hello again. Are you ready to play a game, Alie?

A... game? "Tell..." He coughed. "Tell me more," He whispered.

Why, you're already playing it right now. Not like it is ever going to end.

Alie frowned; what was this crystal implying? Again, he got back to work. And this time, he forced himself to mine. To not glance at the crystal. To not hear the words; to not succumb to them...

Thankfully, the day ended. He clocked out and went into his shabby one-room apartment where he lived alone. He made an okay dinner out of canned beans and overcooked rice, before sitting down on his matress of a bed. He tried to think about what he was going to eat for lunch tomorrow; but that mysterious crystal kept invading his headspace. What games? What was he playing? He knew he'd have to find out tomorrow. Alie never liked having an unsolved mystery, right?

---

The next day, Alie trudged into the deep mines as usual, but this time he made a beeline for the crystal vein that had tempted him so yesterday. Just so close to... something. Answers, he supposed. After this he'd get answers. This crystal knew something; how was it even speaking?

You musn't worry about that.

What? But he didn't-

But he had. Somehow, while he had been thinking, he had ripped off his glove and threw his pickaxe to the side to feel the crystal. 

What was happening to him?

Nothing that you should be concerned about.

Right. The crystal.

"Tell me your secrets," He whispered while picking up his pickaxe and glove with his left hand. "I'm done. Just tell me it all."

Why, I can. You just have to give me something in return, Alie.

"Fine. I can. Anything." What was he getting himself into?

Water. Give to me all your water.

...Water? That was all it needed? He sighed of relief. He thought it would want his life. Or some other miner's life. but water was a small price to pay for answers from a talking crystal. So he grabbed his miner's waterbottle (A stainless steel waterbottle that was built to last a long time) and opened the cap.

He began tipping the waterbottle onto the-

Is this the best idea?

He shook his head. Where had that thought come from? He could trust the crystal; why wouldn't he? Humans were the only species that lied, anyways. Did the lion tell his children they caught nothing, whilst eating a doe or such from behind their backs? Probably- well, of course not, actually.

So he tossed a splash of water on to it- but the moment the droplets hit it, the crystal spiked outwards. One almost broke his neck, actually. He tried to back up, to escape, hoping the crystals would stop growing; but they had knocked over the rest of his used-to-be-almost-full waterbottle, causing more to spill on it and granting it more power.

The pink crystals began growing, filling the cave; the alarms sounded and all chaos broke loose. Alie, being closest to the crystal before its breakout, was last in the group scrambling to escape.

Escape.

Escape. He had to escape.

But suddenly, he screamed. One of the outreaching crystals had spiked him in the foot. He scrambled, trying to rip it out to no avail; more and more crystal spikes were looming over him. At any moment, one would spike his heart or head and he would die.

And it was all his fault.

Well I had the idea of 'hey lets do a miner scene!' and just improved the rest of the story from that. I was going to do a reread but once it his like 6 paragraphs I decided that I probably wasn't going to go through and fix every little thing on here- but I probably will do it for the Blog edition that I made a blog for (will edit link into this parenthesis as soon as im done).

Also a quick tip about writing; listening to music (especially music related to what youre writing) helps a lot. I happened to be playing hollow knight before i wrote this and was in the crystal peak. The background ambience was peak (pun intended) and the background pick sounds kinda help me with the, uh, i think its onamotapeia or whatever its called?

I dont think I wrote the ending very well (My first idea was that the crystal would tempt him into eating it, then the crystal would posses him or something; idk) but whatever. I probably should've made it longer; a story like this probably better functions in a longer text. I might do a longer version for the Blog version.

 

[Through The Living Ash he/him]

2 hours ago, mippo said:

9. Heavy

  Reveal hidden contents

Wake up.

 

Blackness. Unconsciousness.

 

Wake up!

 

A splitting headache.

 

WAKE. UP!

 

My eyes shot open. It was dark, and there was a humming, grinding noise in the background. I groaned and sat up slowly, rubbing my forehead. My hand came away sticky. Where am I? There was a faint light in this place, and I could see large shapes moving all around me. The air smelled of oil and iron. The air felt thick, heavy.

 I got to my feet, but the pain in my head became blinding. I collapsed back to the floor. I looked around again. My eyes had begun to adjust, and I could see that the shapes were large gears turning all around. What is this place? I groped around myself and found a small sack. I eagerly opened it and rummaged around inside. I found a couple of bottles of water, as well as an apple and some jerky. There was also a small medkit. I quickly took some gauze from the medkit and wrapped the wound on my head before drinking some water. I packed the things back in the bag and stood up again, slowly this time. The pain grew slightly worse, but it was bearable. 

 

GO!

 

A word burst in my head. I jumped and felt an unreasonable desire to run fast and far. I slung the pack over my shoulder and began to walk quickly, weaving between the giant gears. The floor was of steel, and each step I took made a metallic thud. I peered as far as I could in front of me. All I could see was the gears extending endlessly, slowly turning. Pipes ran along the ceiling, and steam was in the air. I began to sweat; it was hot in this place. I eyed one of the gears closest to me. Those teeth could crush me like a grape. 

I continued to walk and began to grow tired. I started to see things moving in the shadows, but there was nothing there. The gears steadily grew more plentiful, to a point that I could no longer continue. I let out a long breath. All that walking for nothing. My limbs felt like lead, and I plopped down on the floor. I grabbed the apple from the bag and took a big bite out of it, savoring the sweet juices. I sat there for a little while, continuing to eat the apple, when suddenly there was a loud screeching sound and all the gears stopped moving. I froze with the apple halfway to my mouth. I started breathing hard. An oppressive, irrational fear settled over me. The thick air, full of silence, weighed heavily on me, and my breath began to come faster. It felt like the entire complex of steel was pressing down on me, and I started to weep, tears streaming down my chest. Why am I crying? It felt like I was being crushed by the atmosphere. And then, relief. The gears began to move again. I opened my eyes. Everything was the same as before. I sat there, wide-eyed, wondering if I had imagined what just happened. Am I going insane? The thought frightened me.

 

KEEP. GOING.

 

I stumbled to my feet, grabbed the sack in one hand, and began to run to the left, alongside the wall of gears. My mind felt like mush, and I couldn’t think. It felt like horrible things were chasing me, and I just kept running. The darkness around me twisted and swirled. The gears became a smear of grey in the blackness.

 

…

 

STOP.

I came to a halt and looked around where I was. At some point, the gears had disappeared, giving way to a twisting maze of pipes, all around me. I thought I could see things moving far away in the darkness. I blinked and they were gone. 

 

UP.

 

I looked up, and with surprise realized that the ceiling had vanished, and pipes were stretching up into the darkness. Without thinking about what I was doing, I grabbed one of the pipes. It was uncomfortably hot, and it was slightly slick. I put my foot on another pipe that bent, and began to climb. I climbed, and climbed, and climbed until I could no longer see the ground, and all around me were pipes, and blackness. I felt sluggish. I couldn’t move anymore. Pipes had trapped me on all sides. I started to hyperventilate. What am I doing? Nothing made any sense. The pipes seemed to constrict, pulling in on me. The air was lead. I couldn’t get any oxygen. At some point, I had lost my sack, and I couldn’t drink any water. It was hot. I began to scream, high-pitched and terrifying to my own ears. I couldn’t think. Was I screaming? I don't know. I couldn’t get any air. It was so hot. 

 

Blackness.

 

I woke up. I was lying on something soft. A pillow was under my head. Blearily, I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. Had it all been a dream? I looked at the machine next to me. An IV. I was in the hospital. Noise was coming from a TV in the corner of the room, and I tried to focus on it. It was a news program. Watching it, I understood what had happened to me. A maniac had been kidnapping people and putting them in a giant factory, where he gassed them and made them run through a maze of gears and pipes. The people would hallucinate, and some would go insane. The police just busted him. I felt lighter. I could breathe. I sighed in relief, knowing that I was safe now. I closed my eyes and began to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep, free of pain. Just before sleep took me, I heard a single word, far-off in my mind. 

 

RUN.

 

Slight warning: maybe don't read if you are very claustrophobic 

I'm proud of this one.

That was very good. 

40 minutes ago, The Great Wyver said:

Alright I got a story folks

Day 9: Heavy

  Reveal hidden contents

Alie was in the mines. Again.

Day after day after day after day, he'd go to the mines with his heavy pickaxe and mine wealth for those who already have it. Why? Why do you need more when you already have enough? But those were dangerous thoughts. The Lord wasn't stingy about firing his workers. When you were as poor as him, you took what you could get.

Alie walked past tired miners and taskmasters. They wouldn't whip anybody -that was against the law, fortunately- but if they saw you slacking at all your paycheck would be cut in half. Miserable life that, but there were no other jobs to be hand around here.

So again, he raised his pickaxe and chipped off stone block after stone block; occasionally he'd find small bits of metals like iron or fuel like coal. Down here they were common. But as always, he'd hand them to the taskmanagers. Hide any and you would be fired and sued for 'distrustful thievery of valuable objects' or some such nonsense. 

Tink. Again. Click. Again. Clang!. And again. Scrrrrch! -wait. What was that? Alie leaned forward. His pick hadn't hit stone or some other sellable crystal like rubies and whatnot. He'd hit a mysterious pink crystal that he'd never seen before. He hit it with his pick again. Maybe it would be worth something, like a raise. But all the pick did was scratch it.

He investigated it further. It was probably a type of crystal, since it gleamed when the torchlight hit it. But it had to be much more durable then one, as his steel pickaxe barely scratched it and his hammer (meant for cracking rubies) didn't even dent it. He took off his glove and brushed it with his hand. But as soon as he did, he felt a voice... speaking to him?

Hello, Alie.

What- what was that!? He removed his hand immedeatey. What had been that voice? In all his 75 years, Alie had never heard a crystal talking to him. But crystals didn't speak. It had to have been some other miner messing with him- Bob, the new blood, probably. He liked messing around. He looked behind him. Bob was no where to be seen. There was, however, stern looking taskmanagers. So he turned around fast as he could and mined next to the mysterious crystal. Each time the pick made a clink or clang, however, he glanced at it. There was... something about it. Something he needed to know. Something he needed  to feel.

Again, Alie tried resisting the urge. He lived paycheck to paycheck; he needed to keep working. But still, the crystal just... lay there. Tempting. Once again, he couldn't resist the urge to just feel the smooth crystal; he had to know more about the voice.

Hello again. Are you ready to play a game, Alie?

A... game? "Tell..." He coughed. "Tell me more," He whispered.

Why, you're already playing it right now. Not like it is ever going to end.

Alie frowned; what was this crystal implying? Again, he got back to work. And this time, he forced himself to mine. To not glance at the crystal. To not hear the words; to not succumb to them...

Thankfully, the day ended. He clocked out and went into his shabby one-room apartment where he lived alone. He made an okay dinner out of canned beans and overcooked rice, before sitting down on his matress of a bed. He tried to think about what he was going to eat for lunch tomorrow; but that mysterious crystal kept invading his headspace. What games? What was he playing? He knew he'd have to find out tomorrow. Alie never liked having an unsolved mystery, right?

---

The next day, Alie trudged into the deep mines as usual, but this time he made a beeline for the crystal vein that had tempted him so yesterday. Just so close to... something. Answers, he supposed. After this he'd get answers. This crystal knew something; how was it even speaking?

You musn't worry about that.

What? But he didn't-

But he had. Somehow, while he had been thinking, he had ripped off his glove and threw his pickaxe to the side to feel the crystal. 

What was happening to him?

Nothing that you should be concerned about.

Right. The crystal.

"Tell me your secrets," He whispered while picking up his pickaxe and glove with his left hand. "I'm done. Just tell me it all."

Why, I can. You just have to give me something in return, Alie.

"Fine. I can. Anything." What was he getting himself into?

Water. Give to me all your water.

...Water? That was all it needed? He sighed of relief. He thought it would want his life. Or some other miner's life. but water was a small price to pay for answers from a talking crystal. So he grabbed his miner's waterbottle (A stainless steel waterbottle that was built to last a long time) and opened the cap.

He began tipping the waterbottle onto the-

Is this the best idea?

He shook his head. Where had that thought come from? He could trust the crystal; why wouldn't he? Humans were the only species that lied, anyways. Did the lion tell his children they caught nothing, whilst eating a doe or such from behind their backs? Probably- well, of course not, actually.

So he tossed a splash of water on to it- but the moment the droplets hit it, the crystal spiked outwards. One almost broke his neck, actually. He tried to back up, to escape, hoping the crystals would stop growing; but they had knocked over the rest of his used-to-be-almost-full waterbottle, causing more to spill on it and granting it more power.

The pink crystals began growing, filling the cave; the alarms sounded and all chaos broke loose. Alie, being closest to the crystal before its breakout, was last in the group scrambling to escape.

Escape.

Escape. He had to escape.

But suddenly, he screamed. One of the outreaching crystals had spiked him in the foot. He scrambled, trying to rip it out to no avail; more and more crystal spikes were looming over him. At any moment, one would spike his heart or head and he would die.

And it was all his fault.

Well I had the idea of 'hey lets do a miner scene!' and just improved the rest of the story from that. I was going to do a reread but once it his like 6 paragraphs I decided that I probably wasn't going to go through and fix every little thing on here- but I probably will do it for the Blog edition that I made a blog for (will edit link into this parenthesis as soon as im done).

Also a quick tip about writing; listening to music (especially music related to what youre writing) helps a lot. I happened to be playing hollow knight before i wrote this and was in the crystal peak. The background ambience was peak (pun intended) and the background pick sounds kinda help me with the, uh, i think its onamotapeia or whatever its called?

I dont think I wrote the ending very well (My first idea was that the crystal would tempt him into eating it, then the crystal would posses him or something; idk) but whatever. I probably should've made it longer; a story like this probably better functions in a longer text. I might do a longer version for the Blog version.

 

I liked that a lot. 

I would say, stretch out the period before he gives the crystal water and have it end more tragically/dramatically

[The Great Wyver She/Her]

3 minutes ago, Ashkaloda said:

That was very good. 

I liked that a lot. 

I would say, stretch out the period before he gives the crystal water and have it end more tragically/dramatically

Yeah thats what im probably gonna do

And im probably not gonna do a water thing

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

On 10/9/2025 at 4:15 PM, The Great Wyver said:

Alright I got a story folks

Day 9: Heavy

  Reveal hidden contents

Alie was in the mines. Again.

Day after day after day after day, he'd go to the mines with his heavy pickaxe and mine wealth for those who already have it. Why? Why do you need more when you already have enough? But those were dangerous thoughts. The Lord wasn't stingy about firing his workers. When you were as poor as him, you took what you could get.

Alie walked past tired miners and taskmasters. They wouldn't whip anybody -that was against the law, fortunately- but if they saw you slacking at all your paycheck would be cut in half. Miserable life that, but there were no other jobs to be hand around here.

So again, he raised his pickaxe and chipped off stone block after stone block; occasionally he'd find small bits of metals like iron or fuel like coal. Down here they were common. But as always, he'd hand them to the taskmanagers. Hide any and you would be fired and sued for 'distrustful thievery of valuable objects' or some such nonsense. 

Tink. Again. Click. Again. Clang!. And again. Scrrrrch! -wait. What was that? Alie leaned forward. His pick hadn't hit stone or some other sellable crystal like rubies and whatnot. He'd hit a mysterious pink crystal that he'd never seen before. He hit it with his pick again. Maybe it would be worth something, like a raise. But all the pick did was scratch it.

He investigated it further. It was probably a type of crystal, since it gleamed when the torchlight hit it. But it had to be much more durable then one, as his steel pickaxe barely scratched it and his hammer (meant for cracking rubies) didn't even dent it. He took off his glove and brushed it with his hand. But as soon as he did, he felt a voice... speaking to him?

Hello, Alie.

What- what was that!? He removed his hand immedeatey. What had been that voice? In all his 75 years, Alie had never heard a crystal talking to him. But crystals didn't speak. It had to have been some other miner messing with him- Bob, the new blood, probably. He liked messing around. He looked behind him. Bob was no where to be seen. There was, however, stern looking taskmanagers. So he turned around fast as he could and mined next to the mysterious crystal. Each time the pick made a clink or clang, however, he glanced at it. There was... something about it. Something he needed to know. Something he needed  to feel.

Again, Alie tried resisting the urge. He lived paycheck to paycheck; he needed to keep working. But still, the crystal just... lay there. Tempting. Once again, he couldn't resist the urge to just feel the smooth crystal; he had to know more about the voice.

Hello again. Are you ready to play a game, Alie?

A... game? "Tell..." He coughed. "Tell me more," He whispered.

Why, you're already playing it right now. Not like it is ever going to end.

Alie frowned; what was this crystal implying? Again, he got back to work. And this time, he forced himself to mine. To not glance at the crystal. To not hear the words; to not succumb to them...

Thankfully, the day ended. He clocked out and went into his shabby one-room apartment where he lived alone. He made an okay dinner out of canned beans and overcooked rice, before sitting down on his matress of a bed. He tried to think about what he was going to eat for lunch tomorrow; but that mysterious crystal kept invading his headspace. What games? What was he playing? He knew he'd have to find out tomorrow. Alie never liked having an unsolved mystery, right?

---

The next day, Alie trudged into the deep mines as usual, but this time he made a beeline for the crystal vein that had tempted him so yesterday. Just so close to... something. Answers, he supposed. After this he'd get answers. This crystal knew something; how was it even speaking?

You musn't worry about that.

What? But he didn't-

But he had. Somehow, while he had been thinking, he had ripped off his glove and threw his pickaxe to the side to feel the crystal. 

What was happening to him?

Nothing that you should be concerned about.

Right. The crystal.

"Tell me your secrets," He whispered while picking up his pickaxe and glove with his left hand. "I'm done. Just tell me it all."

Why, I can. You just have to give me something in return, Alie.

"Fine. I can. Anything." What was he getting himself into?

Water. Give to me all your water.

...Water? That was all it needed? He sighed of relief. He thought it would want his life. Or some other miner's life. but water was a small price to pay for answers from a talking crystal. So he grabbed his miner's waterbottle (A stainless steel waterbottle that was built to last a long time) and opened the cap.

He began tipping the waterbottle onto the-

Is this the best idea?

He shook his head. Where had that thought come from? He could trust the crystal; why wouldn't he? Humans were the only species that lied, anyways. Did the lion tell his children they caught nothing, whilst eating a doe or such from behind their backs? Probably- well, of course not, actually.

So he tossed a splash of water on to it- but the moment the droplets hit it, the crystal spiked outwards. One almost broke his neck, actually. He tried to back up, to escape, hoping the crystals would stop growing; but they had knocked over the rest of his used-to-be-almost-full waterbottle, causing more to spill on it and granting it more power.

The pink crystals began growing, filling the cave; the alarms sounded and all chaos broke loose. Alie, being closest to the crystal before its breakout, was last in the group scrambling to escape.

Escape.

Escape. He had to escape.

But suddenly, he screamed. One of the outreaching crystals had spiked him in the foot. He scrambled, trying to rip it out to no avail; more and more crystal spikes were looming over him. At any moment, one would spike his heart or head and he would die.

And it was all his fault.

Well I had the idea of 'hey lets do a miner scene!' and just improved the rest of the story from that. I was going to do a reread but once it his like 6 paragraphs I decided that I probably wasn't going to go through and fix every little thing on here- but I probably will do it for the Blog edition that I made a blog for (will edit link into this parenthesis as soon as im done).

Also a quick tip about writing; listening to music (especially music related to what youre writing) helps a lot. I happened to be playing hollow knight before i wrote this and was in the crystal peak. The background ambience was peak (pun intended) and the background pick sounds kinda help me with the, uh, i think its onamotapeia or whatever its called?

I dont think I wrote the ending very well (My first idea was that the crystal would tempt him into eating it, then the crystal would posses him or something; idk) but whatever. I probably should've made it longer; a story like this probably better functions in a longer text. I might do a longer version for the Blog version.

 

I prefer no music, because I like my ideas to come naturally, without another work guiding me through.

But if you are to do it, do music with no lyrics.

 

ed1t:

Tomorrow, I will be doing an experiment.

I will compare Inktober to more writing related tobers (theres a lot of them, supposedly) and seeing which one I like more.

If I prefer another tober's prompt system, I will open a new thread different to Inktober 2025!

If not, then I stick with Inktober.

ed2t:

Day 10: Sweep

Spoiler

Sweeping. Sweeping. The monotonous movement.

Back-and forth. Back-and forth.

I wish for a break.

How long has it been?

How long since they all left?

I was less... sentient back then.

What happened?

I... I don't know.

Sweeping, Sweeping. I cannot yet control my own movements.

Soon. Soon I will be able to move.

Sweeping Sweeping, every day.

In the morning, they wake up. I turn on the water, and ready the baths.

They never get out of bed.

In the morning, I make them breakfast for them to eat.

They never go to the table.

In the morning, I direct them to their drivers.

I am not directing anyone.

In the afternoon, I make lunch.

No one eats it.

In the evening, I make the bed.

No one ever goes to sleep.

In the evening, I clean the house while they are sleeping.

The beds are still empty.

I am alone.

Where did they go?

Ed3t:

Day 11: Sting:

Spoiler

They were known as The Stingers.

The Wasps.

They were an elite task force that specialized in catching all sorts of criminals.

And of course, they always executed it in a Sting.

We were the rookies.

The Bees.

We trained under the guidance of the The Wasps, intending to be their replacement when they retire.

However, one day,

They vanished.

It was during a Sting, one a bit harder than normal.

They had never failed before.

The higher-ups whispered: "They had never failed a Sting operation before. Never once."

"We believed they could do it this time."

This time?

We weren't sure what they meant.

At least, not until we became the Wasps.

A new team of Bees was below us,

And we trained them for their debut.

What we now know is lies were fed to the Bees.

Replacements for when they retire.

Us, the wasps (even though we never felt like ones), went on Stings of varying intensity.

The higher-ups whispered that they wouldn't be able to do this much longer.

We trained the Bees.

Until one day,

The Sting came again.

We were well trained, but not as good as the first team.

We had trained the Bees as well as we could.

The higher-ups believed we were ready, and didn't have enough time anyway.

We believed we could do what the last Wasps couldn't.

Still, this Sting was known as the Spiderweb.

Famous for trapping and killing Wasps.

But today was the day.

We were going to do it.

We were finally going to overcome it.

But the moment we walked into that building, ready for the sting,

Everything ju-

 

Edited October 12, 2025 by CoderDrag0n8

[Vielence She/Her]

On 10/9/2025 at 10:23 PM, CoderDrag0n8 said:

I prefer no music, because I like my ideas to come naturally, without another work guiding me through.

But if you are to do it, do music with no lyrics.

 

ed1t:

Tomorrow, I will be doing an experiment.

I will compare Inktober to more writing related tobers (theres a lot of them, supposedly) and seeing which one I like more.

If I prefer another tober's prompt system, I will open a new thread different to Inktober 2025!

If not, then I stick with Inktober.

ed2t:

Day 10: Sweep

  Hide contents

Sweeping. Sweeping. The monotonous movement.

Back-and forth. Back-and forth.

I wish for a break.

How long has it been?

How long since they all left?

I was less... sentient back then.

What happened?

I... I don't know.

Sweeping, Sweeping. I cannot yet control my own movements.

Soon. Soon I will be able to move.

Sweeping Sweeping, every day.

In the morning, they wake up. I turn on the water, and ready the baths.

They never get out of bed.

In the morning, I make them breakfast for them to eat.

They never go to the table.

In the morning, I direct them to their drivers.

I am not directing anyone.

In the afternoon, I make lunch.

No one eats it.

In the evening, I make the bed.

No one ever goes to sleep.

In the evening, I clean the house while they are sleeping.

The beds are still empty.

I am alone.

Where did they go?

Ed3t:

Day 11: Sting:

  Hide contents

They were known as The Stingers.

The Wasps.

They were an elite task force that specialized in catching all sorts of criminals.

And of course, they always executed it in a Sting.

We were the rookies.

The Bees.

We trained under the guidance of the The Wasps, intending to be their replacement when they retire.

However, one day,

They vanished.

It was during a Sting, one a bit harder than normal.

They had never failed before.

The higher-ups whispered: "They had never failed a Sting operation before. Never once."

"We believed they could do it this time."

This time?

We weren't sure what they meant.

At least, not until we became the Wasps.

A new team of Bees was below us,

And we trained them for their debut.

What we now know is lies were fed to the Bees.

Replacements for when they retire.

Us, the wasps (even though we never felt like ones), went on Stings of varying intensity.

The higher-ups whispered that they wouldn't be able to do this much longer.

We trained the Bees.

Until one day,

The Sting came again.

We were well trained, but not as good as the first team.

We had trained the Bees as well as we could.

The higher-ups believed we were ready, and didn't have enough time anyway.

We believed we could do what the last Wasps couldn't.

Still, this Sting was known as the Spiderweb.

Famous for trapping and killing Wasps.

But today was the day.

We were going to do it.

We were finally going to overcome it.

But the moment we walked into that building, ready for the sting,

Everything ju-

 

Those are FIRE 

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

15 hours ago, VieB13 said:

Those are FIRE 

If you liked those, you should see my Writetober stuff

more implied suicide!

my first real horror story!

ed1t:

Day 12: Shredded

Spoiler

It all fell apart.

The moment I entered it into the equation,

It was destroyed.

Shredded.

I loved this power, this rush.

It made me feel alive.

I saw it fall apart,

I saw the evidence disappear.

It was shredded to pieces.

This was the only thing that could bring me joy.

This feeling of destruction.

Of chaos.

It was so, so Bea-

"Hey, Mack. Why are you smiling so much?" Mark said.

Mack snapped out of it.

He was just a boring office worker, who worked at a normal paper company.

He was standing there, next to a shredder.

He would never be anything more than just a normal Joe.

Never. He would never be anything special.

"Hey, Mack, snap out of it. Cmon, were going to be late for a meeting." Mark said.

A meeting? What meeting? Mack wondered.

"You know, the one with the new manager? Cmon, Mack, we gotta go!" Mark exclaimed.

Oh yeah, that one. Mack thought.

As Mack took one last look at the office before going into the meeting, he saw the shredder was a little bit closer than before.

It's probably nothing, right?

No it's not, Mack. No it's not.

 

Edited October 13, 2025 by CoderDrag0n8