by Arcaii » Thu Aug 21, 2014 4:34 am
Choices:
1. Keep searching
2. Northern river
3. Lake
4. Northern river
5. Back to camp
6. Northern river
7. Southern river
8. Keep searching.
Roll says... 1: Keep searching.
You decide it's best to keep looking for that herb, and continue your third trek around the territory.
Again, there's nothing here that's like the smell you were hit with. You don't really know why you're just going around in circles when you already know that wherever the herb is, it's not on this territory. Maybe someone outside of the Clan was the one that attacked you. You silently hope that's the case.
You're taking a break in the shade when you hear rustling bushes nearby. Turning your head, you can see Thriftwhisker jump out of what little underbrush there is. He jumps when he sees you.
"Oh! Hey!" He grins awkwardly. "Hi, there...Rookpaw. How's, uh..."
You notice that he's inching his body around so that his right side is facing you.
"Hi, Thriftwhisker," you say slowly. Your crane your neck just a little to see what he's hiding, and you catch it just in time. Your eyes widen.
On his left back leg, still dark and thickly scabbed, is a deep, short cut, partnered by a small one.
Neither of you move for what feels like an eternity. You look up at him, a mixture of shock, betrayal and sheer anger on your face, and his bearing the expression of a kitten who just found out that they accidentally ate yarrow. Your fur slowly rises, and you ever so slowly start to get to your feet.
Thriftwhisker takes one look behind him, back to you, and then whips around and flees for his life. You dart after him.
He's fast, but the blood-rush is on you, and there's something screaming in your head to catch him and kill him on the spot, fueling you even further. You floor it, sprinting after him at a speed that Applefoot would envy, not wasting breath on words or growling, just silently focused on your target.
Speed Skill +1.
He's trying to make it back to camp, you can tell. The problem is that he's got to cross over the smaller river first. He plunges right in to swim, but he's not a very strong one, and you're clear-headed enough to just head for the shallowest part and cut him off just as he makes it to the shore.
You were so caught up in running, though, that you forget to stop, and end up barreling into him at full speed. You both roll on the beach, but you catch yourself and launch at him again. He hits a rock hard enough to make him still for a second. That's all the time you need.
You quickly jump onto him, unsure of how to hold him down considering how much bigger he is than you, but he's terrified into paralysis, and half-dazed from smacking his head into a rock. He just tries to catch his breath while you stand over him, glowering.
Demand an explanation.
Threaten him into explaining.
Give him a second to clear his head.
Hit him.