Don't Starve: The Novel

[Battal]

PROLOGUE

On top of a high hill in a out-of-ways field, there was a large and rather oddly-shaped house. In this house lived a young and intrepid scientist named Wilson. Wilson was quite a mediocre scientist who was better at camping than his profession. His ultimate goal was to build a portal to another dimension, and thus was scoffed by the scientific community. Little did Wilson know that his research would result in the release of an evil demon and the adventure of his life. It all began on a normal Tuesday, as Wilson was studying alchemy...

Wilson carefully poured the vial of liquid into a jar full of gunpowder. Taking care not to spill any of the acid on the floor (as it would set the house on fire), he let the liquid spill, drop by drop, into the jar. With a loud bang, a cloud of smoke exploded out of the glass, knocking Wilson backwards and ruining his expensive hairdo. Wilson stood back up and looked at the smoking work table in exasperation. Would he ever be able to make his dimensional traveling device? He walked back and sank into his huge plush chair, waiting for an idea to come.

At that moment, an old radio on the work table began to rattle. Wilson turned around and stared at it. A voice then came out of it--a raspy, staticy voice--and said:

"Hey there!" Wilson stood up and walked towards the radio. "I have secret knowledge for you!" the voice said. Wilson picked up the radio and held it at eye level. "Are you ready?" the voice asked. Wilson nodded excitedly, and then his mind was racked by a huge stream of information. As the knowledge coursed through Wilson's mind, he discovered it was a way to create the portal he had always wanted to make. Wilson smiled. It was time for the world to see his genius!

Wilson spent the next week building the portal. All through this time, the radio would tune in and give Wilson helpful tips. By that Friday, the portal was complete. Wilson stood proudly before his creation. Then, the radio turned on. "Now, pull the switch." Wilson stalled, nervously. The radio blasted loudly, "DO IT!", making Wilson jump. He pulled the lever. Instantly, electricity coursed through the machine, and pistons and gears pushed around pieces of the machine to form a huge, grinning face. Wilson stepped back in fear; the radio had lied to him. Suddenly, hands of shadow rose up from the floor and wrapped around Wilson. Wilson leaped for the lever in a final attempt to turn off the machine, but the hand's grip was too tight, and he was dragged down through the floor into another dimension, just like the radio promised.

To Be Continued

[Mr.MonsterMeat]

I liked how you described the "Forbidden Knowledge" video. I can't wait for the next part!

[Battal]

I liked how you described the "Forbidden Knowledge" video. I can't wait for the next part!

Thanks! Next part should come out today...hopefully....

[Battal]

CHAPTER ONE

Darkness

Wilson woke up lying on the floor, staring straight up at the sky. Groaning, he turned onto his side and clambered onto his feet. "Ohhh...where am I?" Wilson pondered. Dazed from his interdimensional travel, he stumbled and grabbed onto a boulder for support. Wilson looked around his new environment. To say the least, it was strange; all the trees looked the same and moved in the same lazy pattern; the clouds drifted past like they were hanging from strings; and was that a...horned rabbit? Wilson knew that sooner or later, darkness would fall. However, he wanted to study his landscape first.

The first thing Wilson investigated were the horned rabbits. They were in a field a small distance away. As Wilson made his way there, he noticed a strange purple crow watching him from a tree. As Wilson looked at it, it flapped away, cawing. Wilson noted that the sounds echoed, like he was in a massive chamber with insane acoustics. "If only I had wings like that." Wilson said to himself. "Then I could just fly out of here." Wilson then continued to the field. Closer up, he could see for sure that the rabbits did indeed have curly horns. As soon as Wilson got close, they all ran, screeching, for their holes. "Well, maybe sometime I'll learn how to catch those." Wilson thought. "But I doubt I'll be here very long anyways."

Wilson continued to explore. He eventually came across a small patch of berry bushes. As the berries looked edible, Wilson picked them and ate a few to clarify his theory. As he did not instantly fall down clutching his throat in agony, he decided the berries were safe to eat and picked all of them. As Wilson found more and more interesting things, he failed to notice the sun getting lower and lower in the sky. While Wilson was picking up his fifth carrot, he noticed too late that the sun was setting below the horizon. Finally realizing his danger, he rushed about desperately trying to get enough branches to make a fire. But it was too late. The second the sun went below the horizon, the world rapidly darkened until Wilson could not even see his hands in front of his face.

Wilson sat there in the darkness for a while. Trying to keep himself sane, he thought constantly, "What really is out there that is dangerous at night?" Even as he tried to keep calm, visions of him being ripped apart by ravenous horned rabbits kept scaring him. But what was coming for him was a lot worse.

The first thing Wilson heard was the hissing; a deep, low hissing like that of a giant snake. Then came the footsteps, coming closer and closer...Wilson leapt up and ran; he ran faster than he had ever ran before. He ran through the darkness, stumbling around trees and boulders. The only thing he could think about was getting away from whatever creature was chasing him. Suddenly, Wilson saw light ahead; a beacon of hope, beckoning to him. Wilson ran even faster. The only thing that was real was him, the monster, and the light. As Wilson came closer, he saw the light was a single burning shrub. Wilson was almost there when he tripped over a small stone and fell on the cold ground. Wilson heard a loud shriek of triumph from what was chasing him, but he made one final effort to get into the light. As he did, he heard the footsteps stop abruptly, and the loud slam of something hitting the ground-hard. Everything was silent for a couple of seconds; and then a bone shivering wail of defeat echoed from the darkness. Then the footsteps started again, only this time, they were moving away. An exhausted but alive Wilson fell asleep in the safe light of the flames.

To Be Continued

[Battal]

Well, this is obviously gonna drown...never mind

[Vynik21]

Good stuff, Lord_Battal. Keep it up!

[Battal]

CHAPTER 2

Fire

Night passed, as it always does. Wilson awoke from his light sleep. He was still very tired, but at least he had recovered a bit of his strength, and a bit of his sanity. The chase from the previous night had sharpened Wilson's senses, and he was determined not to be caught unprepared again. As of the creature that had chased him the following night, there was absolutely no evidence about it's whereabouts. Wilson had gathered that it hated light, but as the sapling that had saved him the night earlier had burned to ash, he knew he had to build some sort of fire as to avoid repeating last night's events. On that note, Wilson decided to look around for potential fire-starting material.

Wilson soon discovered that all the area he had explored the previous day was nowhere to be found-his run from the monster had obviously taken his farther than he had realized. Wilson decided that the best plan of action was to explore this new territory. Before long, he discovered a blank, rocky landscape without any grass at all. Wilson was about to turn back when something caught his attention; the alarmed chirping of a baby bird. It was coming from the other side of a large boulder. Wilson had always had quite a liking for animals (but not rats; those were for experimentation) and so ran around the boulder. A surprising sight greeted him, for lying on the ground was the strangest bird Wilson had ever seen. It had legs almost 3 times Wilson's height, and it's body was spherical with a single eye and a large beak.

The bird--"A tallbird" thought Wilson--was obviously dead. The chirping was coming from a small version of the tallbird. It had the same basic body, but it only had short stumps for legs. It was poking at the large tallbird gently with its little beak, almost like it was trying to wake the bird up. Wilson walked up slowly and quietly. The baby tallbird turned around and made an alarmed cheep. It hopped backwards, but ran into a boulder. It then closed its eye and curled into a tiny ball. Wilson walked slowly up to it. The tallbird's eye opened a sliver. "I'm not going to hurt you." Wilson said as he slowly and carefully picked up the young tallbird. He carefully cradled it, like he would a baby (Wilson had never actually held a baby; he was working off things he had seen in pictures) and carried the young tallbird away from its fallen mother.

Wilson had made a rag-tag pile of twigs and the logs from fallen trees. He had lit this with a flint and steel he always carried around with him. He hoped that the light would be good enough to keep the monster away. Wilson also now felt like he had to protect the young tallbird, which at the moment was resting on his lap. It reminded Wilson of a dog. He had a dog once, he remembered. Chester. He was always stealing Wilson's stuff, and would hold it in his mouth until he told him to drop it. Chester took things from shoes and balls to tiny cubes used for weighing things. But Chester had vanished a long time ago. Wilson hoped he was in a better place now.

Night came and went without much action. At one point Wilson heard the hissing of the creature from his first night, but it stayed a safe distance away. When morning came and Wilson investigated (the smallbird hopping behind him) he still found no trace of the thing stalking him. How could something so big move so quickly and silently? It was like a shadow...Wilson put the thought behind him and began searching for resources. It was then when he saw a cloud of smoke rising a short distance away. Wilson, perplexed, made his way to the source of the smoke. He found a burning sapling, just like the one that he had found the first night. The one that had saved him...Looking around, Wilson saw another smoke cloud. And another. And another. It was a trail. It could be a trap, but then again...

Wilson followed the smoke clouds.

[Mr.MonsterMeat]

This is seriously awesome, keep it up

[Battal]

Just throwing it out there, if anyone would like to do some art or something based off this, go right ahead.

Edited April 16, 2013 by Lord_Battal

[RetroGamer2000]

Wow, this is amazing! I'd love to see more!

[Battal]

Good stuff, Lord_Battal. Keep it up!

Challenge accepted.

[Battal]

CHAPTER 3

Others

Wilson sat down for a short break. He had been following the smoke trail for almost an hour now, but he had still found nothing of interest save a discarded match. Who or what made this trail? More importantly, perhaps-where did it lead?Wilson knew that, soon, he would find out. But he had to get there first.

Wilson stood up, and his baby tallbird hopped excitedly around his feet. Despite the intense situation, Wilson had to laugh at the little hops and cheeps the bird made. He continued down the trail, eating some berries he had roasted to keep him going. Just to be careful, he fed a few to his smallbird as well. The next smoke beacon was only a short distance away, and it looked to be the last one. Wilson's heart pounded with excitement. What would be there? Other people? A pyromaniac monster? Or nothing but a single discarded match? Wilson entered the clearing holding the smoke signal and found a fire pit.

Wilson and his smallbird sat around the campfire. Wilson, dissapointed and feeling tricked that he had come so far from his camp for nothing, was poking at a small fire he had made in the pit. It seemed he had been wrong in thinking that there were others here. As night fell, Wilson let the smallbird sleep on his lap while he stared deep into the fire.

The next day, Wilson woke up from a sleep he had accidentally fallen into. He was eager to head back to his own camp and leave this mass of dissapointment behind him. As he gently pushed the smallbird off his lap, he heard footsteps in the brush. Wilson immediately stood up, alarmed. The creature must have abandoned it's nocturnal tendencies! What sort of beast was this?!? Wilson could do nothing but wait as the footsteps and crackling of leaves came closer and closer. Wilson stared at the brush in horror as a girl stepped through the brush and into the clearing.

Wilson thought that he would be surprised to discover he was wrong, but instead he felt like slapping himself for his stupidity. It should have been completely obvious that the camp's owner would be out exploring or something. The girl, on the other hand, looked to be about 14 (which was roughly Wilson's age) and seemed surprised herself to see a person in her camp. However, her surprised expression gave way to relief as she saw Wilson was just another human (With a practically inhuman haircut). "How did you find my camp?" the girl asked. "I just followed these smoke signals. Um, they were your signals, right?" Wilson answered. "Oh, I'm so stupid!" said the girl. "Of course those were my signals. I planted them so in case anyone else was here, they could see them and get to me. My name is Willow, by the way." she added. "It's nice to meet you, Willow." Wilson said. "My name is Wilson." They shook hands.

Willow had returned from a successful hunting expedition, and that night they both enjoyed horned rabbit and roasted carrots. "I must say," Wilson said through a mouthful of rabbit, "this tastes really good after eating berries for two days." Willow laughed. "Its nice to be eating dinner with another person,after all these days of being alone." she said. "The hardest thing for me out here was being alone. Now its-" A hissing cry shattered the night, sending shivers up Wilson's spine. The smallbird let out a frightened cheep and ran under Wilson's arm. Willow looked terrified. "The Grue." she said, finishing her sentence. "That's what its called?" Wilson asked. "How do you know?" "When I got here..." Willow said, "A tall man greeted me. He told me 'Don't starve, and keep away from the Grue.' I think that man is the reason we are here." she finished.

The next day, Wilson woke up to find Willow gone. "Probably out hunting again." Wilson thought. He then noticed that his smallbird had vanished. "No. No, no, NO!" Wilson yelled. He searched all around the camp, and then noticed some tracks leading into the brush. Wilson quickly followed them, and after a while he heard

alarmed cheeping. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Wilson yelled, running faster than ever. He broke through the trees and straight into a large pole. He was knocked backwards, and then he realized he hadn't run into a pole. Yes, the father tallbird was dead, but he hadn't counted on the mother. And now, it had found its child.