Setting: urban city
Role: shut-in kitten
Name: varjak paw
Losing Condition: unable to survive in the city
Clashing Interests:
*gentleman takes over the mansion after the previous owner dies, he also captures cats and turns them into mechanical toys != you want to save your family from him, and free the captured cats
*sally bones' gang seeks to keep their control over the streets of the city != you only pass by
*ginger's gang also runs the streets != you don't know the rules of the street
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Tags: cat fiction, survival in the city, innocent and blunt protagonist, grimdark juvenile, in the midst of gangs, being Mesopotamian Blue, Seven Skills of The Way, alive mechanical toys
Summary: Never go outside, that was what his grand family told him. Yet, their ancestor Jalal came from outside, from Mesopotamia. Varjak Paw is a young cat who has blue eyes instead of green, bullied by his siblings for being different. He loves listening to Elder Paw's tales about Jalal and the Seven Skills of The Way: Open Mind, Awareness, Hunting, Slow-Time, Moving Circles, Shadow-Walking, and Trust Yourself. Everything changes when Contessa dies, and the Gentleman takes over her hilltop mansion—Having escaped, Elder Paw's final words tell Varjak to leave and bring back a dog that will frighten away the Gentleman and his black cats. Thing is, Varjak has no idea what a dog is—Finding his way in the city is going to be tough, who can help him? The streets are roamed by gangs: Ginger is well known on the east side, while Sally Bones' gang is feared by all cats! Will Varjak ever find a dog and bring it home? Why cats vanish, or so called "The Vanishing"? And what are the strange robotic cats he witnesses in the city?
***
Routine: elder paw is telling a story
Wants: go outside/garden
Setback: your father catches you
Opening:
The Elder Paw was telling a story.
It was a Jalal tale, one of the best. Varjak loved to hear his grandfather's tales of their famous ancestor: how Jalal fought the fiercest warrior cats, how he was the mightiest hunter, how he came out of Mesopotamia and travelled to the ends of the earth, further than any cat had been before.
But today, the Elder Paw's tale just made Varjak restless. So what if Jalal had such exciting adventures? Varjak never would. Jalal had ended his days in the Contessa's house. His family of Mesopotamian Blues had stayed here ever since.
The old place must have been full of light and life in Jalal's time, generations ago—but now it was full of dust and musty smells. The windows were always closed, the doors locked. There was a garden, but it was surrounded by a high stone wall. Jalal was the last to cross it. In all the years since then, no one had ever left the Contessa's house.
Now, no one except Varjak was even listening to the tale of Jalal's adventures. Father, Mother and Aunt Juni were dozing in the late afternoon light that trickled through the thick green windows. His big brother Julius was flexing his muscles; his cousin Jasmine was fiddling with her collar. His litter brothers Jay, Jethro and Jerome were playing one of those kittenish games that Varjak could never see the point of, and wasn't allowed to join in anyway.
No one was looking at him. This was his chance. He'd been in the garden before, but the family didn't like it out there, and never let him stay very long.
Stealthy as Jalal himself, Varjak rose up and padded to the cat door. He could see the garden on the other side. He could almost feel the fresh air, brushing through his whiskers. He nudged it open—
⁂
Setting: survival
Role: magical-birds catcher
Name: sixth of the dusk
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Losing Condition: you, and your birds die
Clashing Interests:
*various entities on the island that try to kill at every opportunity != you who live here
*outsider, the company's new machine is capable of locating every magical-bird on patji != your bird warns that if the machine is activated, you will all die
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Tags: death at any moment, jungles island, dangerous plants and animals, exotic made-up species, survivalist protagonist, corpse premonition, birds with powers, used to silence
Summary: On Patji, the father, largest island of Pantheon archipelago—a home to deadliest plants and animals—Sixth of the Dusk lives a solitary life as a trapper, capturing Aviars, extremely desirable birds capable of sharing their talents with humans, to be brought back to his homeland, Eelakin Islands. Dusk has two companions: Kokerlii, a carefree Aviar who can hide his mind from predators, and a timid Sak, a non-native Aviar that shows his corpse in places where he could die. Ever since the arrival of the Ones Above who came from beyond the sky ten years ago, Eelakin Islands is progressing in technology and knowledge—fading away the old traditions of homeislers while Trappers' duty remains unchanged, though admittedly Dusk himself has purchased many modern inventions. Mercantile groups such as the Company seek to establish an outpost on Patji, ignoring the warnings of Trappers about how foolish the idea is. Yet, when nothing is left of them except footprints leading to Dusk's safecamp, he finds out that in Company's main base, lies a machine gifted by the Ones Above which claims to be able to locate every Aviar on Patji... That's when he begins to see his own corpse at every turn. Can Dusk and Vathi stop the machine before it's too late? Or will he die trying?
***
Routine: deepwalker pass by your canoe
Wants: see what the deepwalker looks like
Setback: doesn't see anything
Opening:
Death hunted beneath the waves.
Dusk saw it approach, an enormous blackness within the deep blue, a shadowed form as wide as six narrowboats tied together.
His hands tensed on his paddle, his heartbeat racing as he immediately sought out Kokerlii. Fortunately, the colorful bird sat in his customary place on the prow of the boat, idly biting at one clawed foot raised to his beak.
Kokerlii lowered his foot and puffed out his feathers, as if completely unmindful of the danger beneath.
Dusk held his breath. He always did, when unfortunate enough to run across one of these things in the open ocean. He did not know what they looked like beneath those waves. He hoped to never find out.
The shadow drew closer, almost to the boat now.
A school of slimfish passing nearby jumped into the air in a silvery wave, spooked by the shadow's approach. The terrified fish showered back to the water with a sound like rain. The shadow did not deviate. The slimfish were too small a meal to interest it.
A boat's occupants, however...
*thu-thummm*
It passed directly underneath. Sak chirped quietly from Dusk's shoulder; the second bird seemed to have some sense of the danger.
Creatures like the shadow did not hunt by smell or sight, but by sensing the minds of prey. Dusk glanced at Kokerlii again, his only protection against a danger that could swallow his ship whole. He had never clipped Kokerlii's wings, but at times like this he understood why many sailors preferred Aviar that could not fly away.
The boat rocked softly; the jumping slimfish stilled. Waves lapped against the sides of the vessel. Had the shadow stopped? Hesitated? Did it sense them? Kokerlii's protective aura had always been enough before, but...
The shadow slowly vanished.
It had turned to swim downward, Dusk realized. In moments, he could make out nothing through the waters.
He hesitated, then forced himself to get out his new mask. It was a modern device he had acquired only two supply trips back: a glass faceplate with leather at the sides. He placed it on the water's surface and leaned down, looking into the depths. They became as clear to him as an undisturbed lagoon.
Nothing. Just that endless deep. _Fool,_ he tucked away the mask and getting out his paddle. _Didn't you just think to yourself that you never wanted to see one of those?_
⁂