I found myself in complete darkness. It was cramped, suffocating, and it was as wet as it was sticky. Despite all that, I was more tired than I was scared, so I’m really tired. At least I didn’t feel hungry, and it was warm.

…

…

Conscious thought was a slippery and elusive thing during my time in this…

Gah!

My working memory refused to do the thing it was named after. My thoughts flowed through my mind like Jell-O through a straw, and before I could take a thought like "where am I?" to its conclusion, I would find myself drifting back to an irresistible call of unconsciousness. Ring ring. I answered, shunting aside any remaining half thoughts like, "for that matter, who am I?"

This remained my existence for… days? Weeks? The only sounds I heard were muffled as they reached me through the walls. And have the walls been closing in? It was getting cramped. I was thinking it was time to make my escape. Lucky for me, the passage of time, however long it was, did arm me with some long sharp nails. I could feel them scratching against the confining walls. I had to get out before I was crushed to death by this place.

I would’ve waited for nightfall to make my escape, but I obviously had no clue if the sun was in the sky or not. I didn’t think I would find out if I kept waiting, so now was as good a time as any. With all my strength that I had been “conserving” I thought I could bust out in one fell swoop but instead my strike drew a barely audible tap. The mason did their job well, I’ll give them that, but a slight pop revealed I had broken through something. I took a deep breath and my lungs filled with air. Air! It tasted vaguely like ozone.

My motivation was at an all time high as I both remembered and craved the air. I didn’t even realize I wasn’t breathing until now. Continued effort finally saw success. It must’ve taken like a hundred of those “taps”, and a couple naps, to finally free me from wherever I’ve been held all my life. As the outer wall gave way I unceremoniously rolled out of the ‘pod thingy’ and plopped to the ground.

Immediately my eyes were assaulted by the brightness outside and I couldn’t help but squeeze my eyes shut and cry in pain. My cries sounded more like screeches than wails, and I felt myself picked up and carried away in consequence. My escape from the pod has taken a lot out of me, and my exhausted and foggy mind could barely try and process everything. I couldn’t make sense of anything, and the rocking was nice. But in my defense, it would be a bit unfair to assume a hatchling could figure out much of anything at all with such a shiny new and probably mushy brain.

Dreyva

Welcome to my first thing. I have outlines that get the MC to the GB/reveal, and some more loose plans beyond that. Chapters up to 3 are mostly done and should be available within a week.