The Middle Mary Sue
You aim one last longing look at the dark water, then leap awkwardly over the river, landing heavily on the other side. You start to make your way in what you hope is the direction of escape, but spin around when you hear an all-too-familiar cracking noise.
A small group of spiders dispatched to follow you is massing at the bank, but seems loth to follow you. They seem to be afraid of passing the river. You pause in your escape and stare.
Eventually one, torn between its own safety and letting you escape, makes a headlong leap across the river, landing on the bank closest you with its hindquarters in the murky water. It starts to claw its way up the bank, but its hind legs do not seem to be working and the numbness works its way up the spider's body until the huge creature simply rolls over with its legs bent in on its body. It rolls into the water and is washed, unstruggling, swiftly downstream.
The other spiders seem to take warning from their companion's fate, and back away a little before retreating with many a longing backwards glance. You stare for a moment after the dead spider (for if the water did not actually kill it, you have no doubt it will soon drown), thanking your lucky stars -- or, more accurately, your Mary-Sue Powerz -- that you did not land in the river yourself. You shudder to think how close you came to actually drinking the stuff.
Then you turn and run, flat out, until you reach the edge of the forest, which (thanks to that mysterious force known as Author's Whim) takes only about twenty minutes of Mary-Suelike sprinting.
You have escaped the forest, and a wide plain spreads out in front of you. In the distance, a wide river winds, azure in the shining sun, and beyond this craggy, misty mountains jut up. To the side, near the river on your bank, a house sits, although it is too far away to make out any detail except that there are stables attached. Maybe you could barter for a horse there, and make your journey around Middle-Earth easier. Or maybe it would be better to head straight to the river -- although after your experience in the forest, you are highly suspicious of anything unknown.
What will you do?
A small group of spiders dispatched to follow you is massing at the bank, but seems loth to follow you. They seem to be afraid of passing the river. You pause in your escape and stare.
Eventually one, torn between its own safety and letting you escape, makes a headlong leap across the river, landing on the bank closest you with its hindquarters in the murky water. It starts to claw its way up the bank, but its hind legs do not seem to be working and the numbness works its way up the spider's body until the huge creature simply rolls over with its legs bent in on its body. It rolls into the water and is washed, unstruggling, swiftly downstream.
The other spiders seem to take warning from their companion's fate, and back away a little before retreating with many a longing backwards glance. You stare for a moment after the dead spider (for if the water did not actually kill it, you have no doubt it will soon drown), thanking your lucky stars -- or, more accurately, your Mary-Sue Powerz -- that you did not land in the river yourself. You shudder to think how close you came to actually drinking the stuff.
Then you turn and run, flat out, until you reach the edge of the forest, which (thanks to that mysterious force known as Author's Whim) takes only about twenty minutes of Mary-Suelike sprinting.
You have escaped the forest, and a wide plain spreads out in front of you. In the distance, a wide river winds, azure in the shining sun, and beyond this craggy, misty mountains jut up. To the side, near the river on your bank, a house sits, although it is too far away to make out any detail except that there are stables attached. Maybe you could barter for a horse there, and make your journey around Middle-Earth easier. Or maybe it would be better to head straight to the river -- although after your experience in the forest, you are highly suspicious of anything unknown.
What will you do?