Warriors: Choose Your Own Adventure (COMPLETE)

[Arcaii]

Choices:

1: Introduce
2: Say hello
3: Say hello
4: Wait
5: Introduce
6: Say hello
7: Say hello
8: Say hello

Roll says... 5: Introduce.


"We're...'new', yes," you say. "My name is Asterpaw, and this-"

Scat whacks you with his tail. You jolt and glare at him.

"Names," he says, and shakes his head.

"But this is Momma, it should be fine!" you say.

"No, he's right to exercise caution," Momma says. She sits up, turns, and faces you. "You're welcome and secure here, all the same. That's quite an interesting name you have. Is it Aster and Paw?"

"Yes," you say hopefully. "It's Aster- for my fur, and -paw for my age. Does...does that sound familiar?"

Momma's green eyes dim a little as she thinks. "Perhaps it does. What about your friends?"

"I'm a former house cat," Thimble says. "And Scat's a stray. We're not from wherever he's from. Actually, that's what we're here to ask you about! We came all the way from Derby to talk to you specifically."

"How did you hear about me?" Momma says. "You're awfully young to know about caravans."

"Mist told us you were the best bet," Thimble says.

Momma's eyes light up. "Mist is alive?"

"We've been getting that," you mutter.

The old queen slumps a little, breathing out a sigh of relief. "Thank Mercy in heaven above, the boy's alive." She sinks back into her nest with a far-off look of unbridled joy. "Nettle, do you hear that? Your boy made it."

You decide to give her a minute. When she finally stands up again, purring as loudly as possible, she beams at you.

"Let's go outside," she says. "It's too beautiful of a day to spend in here."

You lead the way out and are promptly bombarded with kits, all squealing at once. Rain sighs exasperatedly and shoos them off of you. She and Oat herd them to the other side of the tree, leaving you, Scat, Thimble and Momma to sit in the light, where the sun has started to peek out of the clouds.

"You have no idea how happy it makes me to know that Mist is okay," Momma says. "We were all so worried for him. He had to leave his mother here from wherever they had escaped from, and she fretted about him for such a long time."

"He's got a little caravan of his own, in the city," you say. "There was about twenty of them or more."

"Kits, too?" Momma says.

"I don't think any of them were his, but yes."

"That's fine. As long as there's another generation." Momma inhales and collects herself. "But, you came to talk to me, not to reminisce about old friends. How can I help you?"


I need to get home.
I'm looking for my Clan.
Do you know where a lake is?

[abxy]

"I need to get home."

[~*Amber*~]

Do you know where a lake is?

[Wolvine]

I need to get home.

[❤ Sunberry ❤]

I need to get home.

[Comettail76]

I respond,"I need to get home."

[agathokakologic]

"I need to get home..."

[Arcaii]

Choices:

1: Get home
2: A lake
3: Get home
4: Get home
5: Get home
6: Get home

Roll says... 3: Get home.


"About a month ago, I was hit by a car near my home," you say. "The twoleg took me to Derby while I was unconscious, so I don't know the direction back. When I talked to Pretty Boy, he said that you would know the routes better than anyone. So I figured, if I got to you, you could tell me where my home is."

"I'm almost certain I can," Momma says. "Where do you live?"

"By a lake," you say. "There's marshland and pine trees on one side, and a forest of oak and birch and all other types on the other, which is really hilly. There's a twoleg- human camp to the west of the pine forest. And two groups side by side - two Clans. BrookClan and ForestClan. I'm from ForestClan. Does that sound familiar?"

Momma has a scrutinizing look on her face. When you finish, she shuts her eyes, thinking hard. Your hope falters a little.

After a terribly slow minute of waiting, Momma sighs and opens her eyes.

"I'm very sorry," she says. "I have no idea where that could be."

Your heart and stomach go cold. "Are... are you sure?"

She nods sadly. All the joy is sucked out of your body, down to your feet and into the ground.

Thimble sympathetically bumps her head on your shoulder. "Hey, it's fine. We can find someone else who will know."

"Nocaravansleft," Scat says quietly. He looks up at Momma. "Right?"

"As far as I'm aware, yes," Momma says. "Maybe one or two are out there, but I don't know where they could possibly be."

"So..." Thimble searches. "What can we do? Just keep walking until we find it?"

"I could point you to some lakes, but none of them fit your description." Momma tilts her head and looks at you. "I'm sorry. I wish I could be of more help."

You sigh. "We'll figure something out."

"Why don't you stay here for the night?" she asks. "We have plenty of room for you."

You don't respond. Thimble nods instead. "We'd love to."

...

You hardly pay attention when a mouse is dropped in front of you. You don't engage with the kits, or listen to Rain and Oat bicker. Scat kindly ushers away Thimble to leave you alone in the den, resting in the darkest corner to the side of a nest. You can't even really think about it - despair grips onto you and pins you to the ground.

You fall asleep way before you're supposed to. You don't dream.

[Arcaii]

"Asterpaw!"

Someone nudges you awake. You barely open your eyes to see a small white cat, her green eyes shining despite the darkness.

"I've thought of something," she whispers. "Come outside."

She's out of sight by the time you get up. You drag yourself out, not bothering to stretch.

The sky is utterly clear, but the light of the moon never reaches the ground - the trees block it more densely than your home's forest. You sigh bitterly.

Momma sits down just at the edge of the tiny clearing, waiting until you sit opposite her.

"Alright," you say.

Momma closes her eyes. When she speaks, her voice has that same strange quality Laurel's did, like someone else is speaking.

"I was born into a caravan, in the days when they still moved around. I remember being carried quite a lot on the backs of our strongest toms, because I was too small to walk by myself, and because it let us bond with our fathers and uncles. Sometimes they would encounter another group, and the tom carrying me would set me down so he could fight freely with the other toms to ensure safe passage for the mothers. You know how we cats are - we can never settle things quietly. I became used to the smell of blood. We would stop often to give the cats who had fought time to heal. Sometimes they took too long, or the wound was too deep, and we left them behind.

"But one day, when I was about your age, a loner interrupted a battle before it could start. She demanded to know what the trouble was - said that she knew how to solve disputes peacefully. I'll never forget this. We pleaded our case, and then the other caravan pleaded theirs, and she stood there, for a full minute, just looking between us. And finally, she snorted, and said, 'This is ridiculous. You could be working together to ensure this path is safe for your families, and you're the ones causing all the trouble. Do you want your children to die for such petty reasons as well?'

"Of course, none of us wanted to hear that from a loner, but she was not the sort to be easily pushed around. She told us that she had seen plenty of fights between caravans like ours, and she was weary of all this squabbling. She instructed our leaders to meet at a certain place and time, and like that she left. We didn't know what to make of that, but my mother was the acting leader for my family, and she decided to go. The leader of the other caravan went with her, leaving our groups together.

"When they returned a day later, they announced that a coven had been formed, made up of the wisest, most experienced travelers across the world, with that loner as the grand matriarch. She said that our stories and our history were too precious to lose in battle, and that we should celebrate what made us travel in the first place - the open road, and the endless possibilities of a world too vast for us to ever fully explore in just one life."

Momma pauses, breathing slowly. You wait, trying to absorb all of the information that was just drilled into your sleepy head.

"The reason I'm telling you this," she says. "Is because there were some places that we were told to not venture. The grand matriarch had seen them for herself, and she promised that they would only lead to trouble. Either they were dangerous, or kept by dangerous cats. I remember asking her about them, and she said that she had grown up in one of those places. And if I recall correctly...she had a name, very similar to yours, made of two words."

You wake up immediately.

"When the coven disbanded," Momma continues softly, head down. "She disappeared. Someone eventually confirmed that she had hidden herself in one of the forbidden places, so that we would not go after her. It's been years, and it's a very, very long shot, but..." She looks up at you. "If she's still alive, she could tell you exactly where you need to go."


A long shot is still a shot.
So you think there's hope?
Where is this forbidden place?
Say nothing.

[abxy]

"A long shot is still a shot."