Tortoise was not a dumb bunny.
Indeed, Tortoise considered himself quite the intellectual among his species, being capable of counting as high as SIX. Further numbers he didn't care for and simply labeled "lots". It was Tortoises opinion that worrying about "lots" was a wasteful and unproductive thing to do.
A good example of this, in Tortoises eyes, was his owner, the human known as Ted, though Tortoise didn't think of him in those terms. In Tortoises eyes, the human was simply "Caretaker".
Caretaker was one to worry about Lots. Caretaker was one to worry about many thing, but especially having enough Lots, particularly Lots of that green papery stuff that tasted bad (Tortoise had tried it only once. It tasted like failed governance and stress).
Tortoise was not a dumb bunny. For his own species he was remarkably intelligent.
Which was why he was disturbed. The world had undergone a change, an unsettling. Tortoise could feel it, and every instinct in the bunnies bones warned him that things were wrong, oh so wrong.
And then the creature had burst into Caretakers and Tortoises shared abode. The creature, to which Tortoise merely though of as "The Shape" smelled even wronger: like blackness, like disease and rotting meat and other things Tortoise (and really, most creatures who weren't meat-eating savages) generally considered bad.
Worse, instead of being still like dead things SHOULD be, the Shape moved, attempted to reach Tortoise, no doubt to do unspeakable things to the bunny. Luckily, Caretaker had lept into action and showed the nasty thing what for!
Of course, it was after that that Tortoise noticed that Caretaker smelled even more of stress than before. More and more stress, piling up, like the stench of someone who refuses to groom themselves properly.
Caretaker smelling of stress was not, in fact, all that rare: he usually had a good whiff of it following him around at most times, but now, the stress was strong and thick and dangerous and just another sign of the fact that the world had became unsettled.
It had gotten to the point where when Caretaker had asked Tortoise to perform some trite, meaningless little exercises (Tortoise didn't think on the fact that it was the first time Caretaker had ever COMMUNICATED with the Bunny, truely communicated), Tortoise had literally and metaphorically jumped at the call. After all, if would make Caretaker feel better, why NOT perform a few silly little tricks (and get a little bread at the same time; Tortoise was a generous bunny, but he did love a good bit of bread every now and again)?
Gained skill High Jump! Gained Skill Quick Dash! +1 AGI! For performing for ones owner, +1 INT!
Tortoise was not a dumb bunny, but he wasn't a smart one either: as he performed, he felt things change inside himself, began feeling an unsettling within. His thoughts became clearer, clearer in such a way that a bunnies thoughts simply should not be.
Luckily, Caretaker had not asked Tortoise to perform since. After that, he started going out and doing odd things and returning smelling like The Shape. Unlike the shape, however, beneath was still the same smell Tortoise associated with his beloved Caretaker.
Not long after that, Caretaker had taken Tortoises cage and placed it somewheres...not bright. To call it dark would be inaccurate: it was less a lacking of light and more that, in that strange space with walls that made no sense, neither dark nor light were particularly extant concepts.
It had, thankfully, only been a few hours in that space before Tortoise, cage and all, were placed in a very different room, one that smelled like sadness and paper (the good kind that was fun to chew on).
Caretaker had then opened Tortoises cage and given him free run of the building, with the only limitation being that Tortoise couldn't exit the buildings premises.
A fair commandment, in the bunnies opinion: buildings were nice and enclosed, like very big tunnels, and they appealed greatly to the rabbits instinctive genetic agoraphobia. The outside meanwhile...
Tortoise had only visited it once, an experience he didn't care to have again.
The bunny began exploring, mapping out the building. Lots of large, empty rooms, some strange, flat repeating platforms going downwards into darkness (also known as stairs, a concept Tortoise was currently unfamiliar with), and, unfortunately, Mice.
Tortoise first realized they had been stalking him in what had, previously, been a history class.
Now, Tortoise didn't particularly care for mice. They were brutish, dumb, and small little pests. Rats, rats one could have a dialogue with, Rats were intelligent. Mice were dumb as bricks, meanwhile, and when living with Caretaker, the only use he had had for the wretched things was gossip, and frankly, knowing that the neighbors inhaled a white powdery substance while their spawn were away was not, in Tortoises eyes, particularly INTERESTING.
Luckily, in Tortoises experience, mice were also giant cowards. Turning, the bunny thumped his legs, let out a grunt, and gave a brief lunge to show his displeasure and scare away the tiny nuisances.
Only it didn't work. One of the mice stepped forward and Tortoise instinctively realized it was wrong, it was twisted, it was unsettled.
It was a Shape, but instead of smelling like disease and decay, it smelled like moist mushrooms and smoke.
Tortoise was not a dumb bunny. But he wasn't a smart bunny either. He lunged foward and attacked the mouse with his claws, impaling the Mouse-Shape on them, hoping this sign of agression would scare away the others.
Instead, the Mice-Shapes did something completely unexpected and charged Tortoise. Luckily for the hare, they were very small and very not-fast, while he?
Was both very large and very fast.
Tortoise slammed into the first one, tearing it to bits with his claws, before doing a giant leap away from the group, who responded too late to their compatriots demise by charging at where Tortoise had been. Still, they refused to run. Very well. Only two left. He could handle two.
The next one, he dispatched by kicking it. Now, one who didn't own a bunny might think its kicks were nothing to write home about. Like all people who failed to own a bunny, these individuals were ignorant cretins, as the entire rabbit physiology is designed around two goals:
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Hop fast.
Kick good.
The Mouse-Shape never knew what hit it, as it slammed into a wall, unmoving. That left the last Mouse-Shape, which finally seemed to realize it was fighting a fight it couldn't win, causing it to turn tail and flee.
However, Tortoise wasn't done with it yet.
40 XP! Gained skills Claw Slash and Bunny Kick!
----------------------------------------
Normally, Tortoise probably wouldn't be heading FOR combat, but something, some ephemeral thing, not quite instinct, not quite intuition, told him that these Mice-Shapes needed to be dealt with. To that end, he followed the fleeing one, hoping to track down its next.
Tortoise wasn't to follow long: a small hole in the wall, guarded by more Mice-Shapes. The bunny quickly dispatched them with a pair of swift kicks and moved on.
Inside the hole was a damp, rotting wood smell, the space itself about the size of Tortoises cage. On some level the bunny realized that that was technically impossible and that he should be outside the building right now, but he ignored this feeling: just another part of the unsettling.
The space itself was guarded by more Mice-Shapes, these ones larger and less frail looking. They rushed at Tortoise, teeth clicking, to which the bunny responded succinctly.
With his teeth.
Tortoise noted that if they SMELLED like mushrooms, the taste was even stronger. What kind of mushroom the bunny wasn't sure of. A foul kind, to be certain.
Gained skill Bite! 40 XP!
It was then another hole inside the hole opened up, and that fungusy smell became even stronger. But so too did another smell, one that Tortoise didn't recognize.
Cautiously, the bunny stepped in, his eyes adjusting to the low light. Everywhere he looked, he saw small fungi growing out of the damp wood. In the center of the room, floating in the air, was a small purple crystal. In front of it was a rat.
But not a normal rat, no. It was bigger, uglier, and for whatever reason, it had even more mushrooms growing out of its head and back.
Tortoise lunged at it, barely avoiding its bite, swiping the Rat-Shape's throat with his claw, followed up with a kick powerful enough that the bunny heard the snapping of tiny bones.
The Rat-Shape fell, and all around him, Tortoise felt the mushrooms die.
Dungeon Boss: Cordycept Rat slain! 20 XP! Level up! +2 INT, +2 AGI. Gained skill Tracking, Instinct rank up!
For slaying a dungeon boss, gain special perk Anti-Fungus!
Become Dungeon Boss?
Y/N?
Another unsettling. Instinctively, Tortoise knew that if he wished, he could take the Rat-Shapes place, and become a Shape himself. By the same token, he knew that doing so would make him...different. Stronger. Smarter. Perhaps faster.
Very briefly, the bunny considered it.
Sadly, doing so would leave Caretaker alone. Not something they could do in good conscience. With hesitancy, the bunny decided against taking the Rat-Shapes place.
...However, that didn't mean it couldn't take a souvenir. The strange gem object would do nicely. Grabbing it between his teeth, Tortoise began hopping back to his cage. Once there, he buried the gem under his cages bedding, and lied down, yawning. Right. It was sleep time. With that, the bunny rested.
Tortoise
Species
Level
Species XP
A bunny, dedicated and loyal to his owner and caretaker.
Bunny
2
0/120
STR
INT
AGI
WIS
PER
SPRT
CHA
END
LUK
1
3
11
6
9
9
N/A
2
11
Affinities
Black
White
Green
Red
Blue
0
0
2
0
0
Perks
Instinct
Rank 7
Grants an intuitive grasp of various things. At this rank, this perk provides +5 WIS and INT when pursuing goals or actions related to their species (such as searching for food or trying to attract a mate) and major Dangersense.
Anti-Fungal
Rank 1
Grants resistance to fungus based conditions and poisons. At this rank, 50% resistance to fungi.
Beast
Rank 1
The holder of this perk is a beast or animal of some stripe. At this rank, no benefits.