Notail Simulator Beta (4/4)

You take the braiab.
Those two wanted to kill you. You have no intention of putting your life on the line for people who would hurt you if they could.

As you walk away, the braiab struggles in your hand as it tries to look to the west.

"WEST. WEST. WEST."

You ignore its calls for you to head west.


=


The I-classes ask you where you got the braiab when you get back considering they're not naturally occurring. You try to lie at first, but I-classes just cannot be lied to. They catch you and ask again. Finally, you admit to what you saw and tell them the whole story. The next day you take them to the abandoned camp and show them. They investigate everything but they found nothing new.

They weren't going to head west. Whatever anomaly was to the west had to be awful. They tell you that when they get back to the forest center they'll inform the adults about what they saw so they could investigate the anomaly and decide if adult Q-classes needed to be brought in to destroy it.

The forest center was a good two months away though. It was unlikely that they survived the anomaly, and impossible for them to survive it for two more months if it was aggressive.

But that's just how things are in the woods.

The I-classes don't know if taking the braiab was a good thing. On one hand this means no one else has the chance to save them, but on the other hand, maybe it was best if no one went in and likely wasted their life trying to save them. It was a toss-up, a grey zone.

So, of course, everyone decided to just ignore it and just head north.

Fortuna rolls a 20 sided die. A 19 is rolled.

Up north was an area of high hills surrounding one mountain in the middle. The mountain might not have been as nearly as wonderful as the tower that reached into the sky but it was impressive nether the less. The top bit of the mountain was rather odd with it being completely flat. As your group went around the mountain you couldn't help but wonder what might be on top it.

If given a few fair and clear days the climb up the mountain would be a fairly simple climb, if tiring one. Your group showed no interest in the mountain. The kids who lived in the area noted that this was an extremely rare clear break in the normally windy and stormy weather this place normally got.

You felt like you were missing out, but you had 6 years and a few leftover months in these woods to go. You could try your luck later.

Fortuna rolls a 5 sided die. A 5 is rolled.

You and Hawk kid attempted to catch capture creatures in the area, but it was tough. While you two were now on speaking terms, even if the words were quite short, it didn't actually make capturing creatures easier. Hawk kid was scared of all manners of animals and would only help you try to capture them when you forced him. What really got in the way was that the animals who lived in these high hills were adapted to speed and grace, something both of you lacked. The creatures were never surprised and even if you thought you blocked all escape routes the beasts would take to the skies, run up an impossibly steep stone, one even jumped down, rolling itself into a ball and tumbling like a stone to avoid capture.

The few times you and Hawk kid did capture something it was because you two would accidentally kill it by using too much force.

You could use your beast bait which had a virus, not unlike the type cats used to cause mice to fall in love with them, that could make it easier, but this was a bad area for usage. The virus didn't kick in right away and took days to slowly rewire the brain of the host. In that time you would have to keep a close eye on the creature without scaring it away. This meant either trapping or tracking it, both of which were near impossible for you two to do.

Sometimes you considered eating the bait yourself when times were rough, but back when you could read the label a few years ago, you remember it explicitly stating to not consume it. Something about how while most notails were unaffected, some were heavily affected by it so it's best to not try one's luck.


=


While you and Hawk kid sat on one of the hills after a failed attempt you noticed him scanning something below.

"U-Uh, we b-better move there's a big capture creature in the area. >=3"

As he backed away from what he was viewing you noticed what entry was on his device.

Fortuna rolls a 20 sided die. An 18 is rolled.

You slide down that hill and to the beast while yelling at the top of your lungs. This time your words were not muffled away.

"SLITHERS! SLITHERS! =3"

There was a chance it wasn't Slithers.

Heck, there was a chance it was Slithers but that they wouldn't recognize you and attack on sight.

But you trusted this to be Slithers and for Slithers to remember you.

This beast who could kill you with one bite stared you down with its petals fanned out in an aggressive stance. You held your ground and kept your hands in the air, asking it to come closer.

In one quick movement, its petals folded up indicating it returned to a docile state.

You have reobtained Slithers.




=




Now with Slithers back you're feeling a bit better. You still feel as if something is missing but it's a bit easier to ignore the feeling for now. The I-classes were happy to be able to not have to rotate back and forth now that you have your own creature to ride, but they do intend to keep a fair bit of distance between you and them. They have no plans of your capture creature breaking away from you and deciding snack on them.

At first Hawk kid still had to walk by himself. You watched him lag behind and have to stop due to exhaustion over and over. You felt a bit of pity for him and after a week had decided to let him ride on Slithers.

You informed him if he ever did something wrong you would hurt him though.


After traveling until the hills rolled back into flatland you and the group finally found the forest center.

Fortuna rolls a 20 sided die. A 7 is rolled.

As soon as you got there the I-classes went off to find an adult to inform about the event. You and Hawk kid were left to your own devices.

The kids in the area would point at Slithers and note that if Slithers is being entered into today's competition that they might have to pass.

The capture creature battle arena was here, it was nothing more than a glorified field with a fence around it and seats. The kids in the area had fairly impressive capture creatures. Many of them were Z or V-classes but there were a few of the others sprinkled in. Not to toot your own horn, none of those capture creatures looked as good as your Slithers.

You did hear a small group of kids wonder if Slithers would be able to take on one of the creatures in today's match. You didn't see any creatures who looked impressive enough to take on Slithers, leaving you wondering if you missed someone.

The capture creature arena hosted a daily tournament that kids could join to battle their creatures. Everyone who participated would get a prize even if they lost, with those who got closer to the number 1 spot getting the better prizes. The contest rules warned that while this was not a fight to the death that capture creatures are unpredictable and that no one is liable for one creature killing another creature in a match.

The fights were hosted by two V-classes, one of which the I-classes you came with were talking to right now. The only other adult notail in the area was a T-class.

The I-classes finished their chat and had explained to you that they were going to be sending adult Q-classes to check out the anomaly and remove it if it poses too much of a threat.

The I-classes started to plan their next move, you would as well. This was the location you and the duo were going to split after months of traveling.