Notail Simulator Beta (4/4)

>Take a deep breath. A kid just killed your capture creature. It's painful. You'll make him pay. He's bait now. Bait for Slithers. You'll get Slithers back or a new friend. It's fine. You're fine. Revenge makes it fine, right?
>Take some rations from Midnight, then bury him after trying to use a mask on him.
>Have a talk with an N-class at the next forest center. You've...been through a lot.

Make a cloak out of him if you can. But I agree with Trying to put the mask on him, along with having a talk with one of the N-classes.

That and quell your want to kick the Hawk kid's ass :)

I'm saying try the mask thing too but bury him afterwards. Although, skinning him might hwlp, and would and a nice memento.

>Place one of the masks on midnight. If it does nothing, eat as much of midnight as you can. Grow nice and big.

>Let the hawk kid help, and consider talking them into giving you their face when you're done with them.

Actually, no, let's try to be compassionate towards the hawk kid and make a friend. It looks like they're already having a pretty bad time without all this and maybe we can convince them to join us.

>Be a good friend to Hawks. His face is similar to yours! Ask if he wants to go with you. Teach him about capture creatures.
>Necromasky
>Or if that doesn't work eat Midnight, if you eat him he will always be apart of you! which is good.

Try Placing One of your Floating Face Friends onto Midnight. Maybe their Super Special Anomaly power is Necromasky! If that doesn't work, Bury Midnight. Take a couple of his legs first, though. He'd have wanted it that way, probably.

and Hawkey'll be someone you can shove at Impending Doom to distract it, if needs be, or possible a source of emergency food, since he went and murdered your other one

edit; Having thought some more, If Necromasky doesn't work, Don't bury midnight. Eat As Much of him as you can. Save as much of his meat as you can for later consimption later as well. If You Eat Him He Will Always Be A Part Of You and he would have wanted you to become as Magnificently Huge as Possible

This, but maybe be a tad nicer when taking Hawkperson with you.

>fuck
>i'm going to cry, uhhh, goodbye midnight, have a good night.
> Let's just, chill around with the Hawk class, they're a [Pushover], you've been a [Pushover] once, everyone do mistakes even if one of them is killing your most beloved lizard, and mistakes should be forgiven
>Still fucked up and will hang with you, maybe talk a bit with him and know his story.

Remember when we said we shouldn't be as [unforgiving]?
Cause I don't.
Sorry hawk kid you're dead meat.

>Take a deep breath. A kid just killed your capture creature. It's painful. You'll make him pay. He's bait now. Bait for Slithers. You'll get Slithers back or a new friend. It's fine. You're fine. Revenge makes it fine, right?
>Take some rations from Midnight, then bury him after trying to use a mask on him.
>Have a talk with an N-class at the next forest center. You've...been through a lot.

Seconding all of this, but use a mask on Midnight before we take the rations. Additionally, if the mask doesn't work, try to skin Midnight and use it as a nice cloak.

"Yeah, I want him to come. =3"

You get up, dead best friend in hand and walk to the Hawk kid before dumping Midnight onto his lap.

"You carry him. Murderer. =3"

You wanted to say more. You wanted to deck him in the face, maybe even in the mask right where he sat.

But you were so tired. You were only sleeping maybe an hour, two hours tops ago, and you're already so so tired. The I-classes help you on to the back of the Mix-Match and one rides on it as well. As the group heads north the I-classes allow you to stay on for the whole trip, while they swap places time to time to rest.

The Hawk kid is never allowed to rest on the two headed steed and has keep moving. When he lags behind due to being tired the I-classes liked to yell back at him

"You better not dilly dally! (;"
"We don't know if there's Hawk scouts around, and if there are we're pretty sure they would be looking for you, not us. :)"

He'd always quicken his pace right after.



=



By the time night started to fall the group had reached the next square on the map and hopefully out of Hawk lands. Ahead was another expansive lake. This would be a good place to camp.

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

The I-classes had the Hawk kid go get items to build a fire with, considering that someone had looted their fire starting kit.

"Well Crane kid. :)"
"You can go ahead and prepare your capture creature. ;)"

For a moment you had no idea what they meant until it clicked that they were implying that you'd get Midnight ready to be cooked.

"................ok. =3"

Before you would start the event, you carefully put one of the floating faces on Midnight. The face doesn't attempt to return to its spot around you like it normally does. It seems the face reacts to animals, but it does nothing to Midnight.

He's still dead.




You would not befoul your lucky pocket knife and instead took out the knife you obtained from the Eagles.

You then skinned your long time pal like you skinned any other creature you killed. You just felt numb at this point. You weren't really thinking but just letting yourself go on autopilot.

Fortuna rolls a 20 sided die. A 14 is rolled.

The skinning goes better than normal and you obtain a gwech hide and a gwech skull. You could build yourself a cape out of the hide and a face out of the skull if you get out of the woods.

The fire is about done when you bring the usable meat over. You let them cook it while you head back to what remained of your pal. You don't really know what to do with it. This would be about the time you bring the body to a trash and just toss it in there like everyone else would do, but as you lack that you just start pulling leaves off the trees and then just dumping them on Midnight's corpse until he's completely covered.

You didn't know what else to do.

It made you feel slightly better.

Out of sight out of mind.

You head back to the fire, the meat was being carefully cooked as to not burn it.

"What were you doing back there? :)"
"Covering Midnight in leaves. =3"
"I think a creature could smell a dead gwech under leaves so that was a bit of a-"
"waste of time. :)(;"
"I didn't do it for that. =3"
"What did you do it for then? :)"
"I dunno. I felt like I couldn't leave Midnight like that. =3"
"That's a little-"
"-weird. :)(;"

Says the teens who can't stop finishing each other's sentences. You shrug at them both, it didn't matter now.

"...H-Hey what's with those faces around you? >=3"

How dare he talk to you.
How dare he decide you and him are on speaking level.

"I'm studying them. =3"

He seems instantly calmer when you talk back to him. Maybe he thinks you forgave him already but you didn't.

"Cool! What do they do? Do you know yet? >=3"

He moves his hand over to touch one of the faces but you grab his wrist and squeeze it without even thinking about it.

"Don't touch anything of mine ever again. =3"

He spends the rest of the night silent while you and the I-classes talk, completely ignoring him. You feel stronger due to eating Midnight's flesh and the I-classes give you a few tips on how to talk to people to get information you need, making you a better speaker.

You do realize you have become extremely possessive of your faces, and you're likely going to be possessive about your capture creatures for now on. You're liable to [Auto-Attack] if anyone puts even one finger on them.



=



In the morning you head out to check around the lake for other notails or supplies. The I-classes go look for food considering their shared capture creature requires a lot of it.

You didn't tell Hawk kid to follow you but he does anyway as he assumed he was to assist you with anything you wanted. He lingers far back, close enough for him to not lose you but far enough that you would not become suddenly annoyed with him.

You find a small camp site by the lake but no one is there. You don't want to be rude but you investigate the area. Being highly [Observant] you're able to pick out small details that show that no one has been here for at least a few weeks. You decide that considering the owner of the campsite has been gone for so long that it's ok to loot items.

Fortuna rolls three 20 sided dices. A 14, 7, and 9 is rolled.

You loot one capture creature guide book on taming, one knife, and a few arrows but no bow.

"Hey there's a no....."
Hawk kid tries to talk to you but drifts off as he knows you have no desire to hear him talk. Instead he holds out the paper for you. You'd snatch it out of his hand if that wouldn't rip the paper.

You read the note.

Hey K-16,
I'm going to be heading to the west. Sorry for being so sudden about this! I got some info from one of the kids that for some reason there's a major legendary anomaly next to every lake! I don't know why every lake has an anomaly next to it but I want to see if I can find out. I also want to see what legendary anomaly is near this lake. Seeing as we know it's not to the north or east that means it's south or west, so I'm trying west first.

Should be back in a few days so just wait for me here, that or I'll be back before you're back from checking out that capture creature battle arena to the north east. >:)

- Q-670

Ps: I was able to get the locations of all the lakes from another kid in a trade, here's all the spots on the map they should be on! >:)

You update your map with this info. When you look up you're greeted by Hawk kid holding out another one he found.

This one is from K-16.



Hey Q-670 I got back from the delightful capture creature fights at the forest center, but you were not here when I got back. I read your note and waited but it's been 2 weeks Q-670, you should have been back now.

Hopefully you're alive and reading this note. Maybe you went to check one of the other lakes, but just in case I'm going to be to the west to try and find you. If I cannot I'll come back to camp and stay here for a bit.

If you're reading this note and the camp site is still here, then I am to the west. If you're reading this note and the campsite is gone then I'm going to be checking the other lakes for you.

If that happens ask everywhere you go if they've seen me and tell everyone you're name and which way you're going. That way maybe we'll be able to meet up again.

Hope you're safe and sound. ;)
- K-16




There doesn't seem to be any other notes and from the state of the camp K-16 never got back to the camp. It takes a few days to walk a square and it's at least been two weeks if not more, so K-16 should have been back by now.

The fact that you know these people makes it slightly unsettling that they disappeared, even if they implied they wanted to kill you.

"Uh....>=3"

Hawk kid points down, yet again not speaking as to avoid angering you.

It seems a wild capture creature has appeared! It clacks its fearsome claws at you! You jump back and quickly scan it.

You might have overreacted just a little bit. It's not the most impressive capture creature but......

This is K-16's capture creature. You suddenly remembered how it used to crawl under the tables and climb bookshelves while you were being tutored.

K-16 was a notail of high cleanliness, they cleaned their room without ever being forced to, and yet here their capture creature was covered in dirt and grime as if no one has cleaned it in.......

Weeks.

K-16 would never leave their capture creature behind.

You try to communicate with the braiab and get a basic response.

"DANGER. WEST. ████████"

The last word it tries to convey is either something you don't know, or it has no idea how to convey it. Hawk kid was listening to the braiab mentally as well and meekly says, as if talking quietly was going to make you less angry,

"W-We're not g-going west right.....cause I think what's to the west...you know....killed em..... >=3"
"......My plans were to go north. =3"

You look at the braiab as it flashes mental thoughts about west again. The capture creature clearly wanted you to find its owner.

But considering that both of them haven't come back you're not sure there's going to be anything left to find other than another death.

The braiab was small.

You could just take it and walk away.

>Pick the mudcrab, time to got to fucking west I guess and save some butt
>"Fine" as mood? Yeah, being angry with the hawk kid is doing no good, rant a bit with them and tell him what you're thinking, be honest, one of you are going to kill each other and we can avoid it... By just talking?
> We're going to die but I want to save people and I belive E-2792 is still dumb like me and softie like me.

> Why would you want K-16's capture creature? Nah.
> Wait for the I-classes to come back and tell them you want to check out the west. Just to investigate. They don't have to come, but letting people know where you're going is best.
> If there's too much danger in the anomaly when you get near it, just cut your losses and leave. Your tutors wanted you dead anyway.

> Make the Hawk kid come along with you while you look. Keep him in front - do you really trust him at your back?
> While you're at it, ask him what Hawk's Nest is like.

>Take the crab, maybe if you see those nerds you can give them back, and if not, hey new friend who isn't dead (yet).

>Go west. Send the hawk kid to fight the anomaly. Either he dies or you get good loot.
>Show the braiab the body of K-16, or explain that it likely won't be seeing its owner ever again. Then you get a new capture creature.
>Don't forget to talk to an N-class. Don't forget.

>Pick the mudcrab

>Just take the crab. Those two are almost certainly dead and it's really not worth trying to find their bodies.
>Use the happier of the two masks on the crab

>Try to track Slithers as you keep heading where you expected to
>Tell the others and read the book with the Hawk kid. They're trying, and it's time for you to try and respect them back.

>Take the crab, maybe if you see those nerds you can give them back, and if not, hey new friend who isn't dead (yet).

This, and lets remember not go to another big anomaly. We lost slithers last time we did that. Never again.

> Leave the crab in case K-16 ever comes back for it.

> Do not, repeat NOT investigate the anomaly! Haven't we learned our lesson? Let's head north and get out of here.

> Ask your new hawk friend if he could go and scout a bit ahead westwards. He can just keep going in that direction, you'll let him know when it's enough. You'll follow him not too long after, definitely before you lose good sight of him.
>> [charisma check] Of course, he can, just not go ahead. He's free to do whatever he wants. His friends are probably looking for him...
> (Do your best to not force him to walks straight to his death. This is sending a canary into a coal mine, not an execution. The idea is that if something suddenly kills someone, better this jerk than you.)

> Looking for them or not, take the crab.

>Pick the mudcrab, time to got to fucking west I guess and save some butt
>"Fine" as mood? Yeah, being angry with the hawk kid is doing no good, rant a bit with them and tell him what you're thinking, be honest, one of you are going to kill each other and we can avoid it... By just talking?

I agree with all of this!

> Just leave the crab. Maybe it'll help other people avoid the anomaly.

> Don't head west.

>K-17 and Q-670 want to gut you alive. Steal their crab and head north. If nothing else you can break the jar and eat the brain.

>Pick the mudcrab

>Just take the crab. Those two are almost certainly dead and it's really not worth trying to find their bodies.
>Use the happier of the two masks on the crab

>Try to track Slithers as you keep heading where you expected to
>Tell the others and read the book with the Hawk kid. They're trying, and it's time for you to try and respect them back.

Seconding.

I don't think we should try to track down slithers. Moving a square takes about a month and we've moved two squares since we lost slithers. Slithers could be anywhere now.

>Be nice to hawks. Explain why you're so mad and teach him about how capture creatures work. More friends and less murder is usually much better.
>Take the small crab. Something is better then nothing.

>Focus on getting back to your group before you investigate any more anomalies.

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.