Demo — Joseph Devine

Long Way Home

''Long Way Home'' //Chapter 1: Peace// [[Continue]] (set: $Agility to 0) (set: $Charisma to 0) (set: $Energy to 2)

"Stitch, buddy, food is ready!" The sound of her voice rustles you from another wonderful night's sleep. Normally, you'd be grumpy over the disturbance. However, you heard your favorite word, one of the few you know: ''food''. You open your eyes and yawn, the sleepiness slowly fading, replaced by the almighty hunger of going more than five hours without a meal. [[Head Straight to Breakfast]] [[Do a Big Stretch]]

"There you are, little guy!" Your human looks at you with a look of barely restrained joy. For a moment, you consider whether she's going to torture you with one of her horrid games that entertain her so. The number of times you've been kept from breakfast for 'face kisses' or 'cheek squishes' should warrant some type of divine punishment. Today, however, she simply pours a king's ransom of kibble into your bowl. [[Reward Your Human For Good Behavior]] [[Food Food Food!!!!]]

(set: $Agility to it + 1) You do a big stretch, allowing your muscles to loosen up. [[Now Go Eat ->Head Straight to Breakfast]]

(set: $Charisma to it + 1) You mew quietly, rubbing the human's shins with your side as you make your way towards the bowl of food. She lets out... some kind of sound and exclaims how cute you are. The moment soon passes as she shuffles away to do... whatever it is she does outside of feeding you. [[Food Time! ->Food Food Food!!!!]]

You bare down on your bounty of kibble. It cowers in fear of its impending doom as you lick your whiskers in anticipation! [[The Battle Begins!]]

You open your mouth wide, taking in as much kibble as possible. For a moment, it seems that you have overstepped your bounds, but you power through, closing your jaws with a vicious ''chomp.'' The cowardous kibble never stood a chance. You continue your assault until nothing is left but crumbs and victory. Once you finish, you are faced with three familiar options. To play, to sleep, or to see if you can extort some head scritches from that pesky human. [[Perhaps, A Nap?]] [[The Time For Play is Upon Us!]] [[I Demand Scritches]]

(set: $Energy to it + 1) After such a harrowing battle between you and breakfast, a proper nap is indeed in order. You slip into your human's room and curl up by her feet for a well deserved rest. [[Continue ->Later That Day]]

(set: $Energy to it - 1) (set: $Agility to it + 1) You dash off to the living room, your eyes widening with excitement as you find your first target: the red dot. A cunning foe, it has eluded you since the day it first arrived. Whenever you get close, it retreats back into the box it hides in, like the coward you know it is. Today will be different. Today you finally get the drop on the little red dot! (if: $Agility is 2)[You pounce on the wretched dot, your paws clamping down over it! For a moment, you believe yourself victorious... but somehow it escaped to the top of your paw!] (else:)[You pounce the dot with all of your might, but it escapes your grasp once again!] Now, the game is on. You chase the dot back and forth across the living room floor until it once again retreats into its box. You shall have your victory! But another day... Now though, your energy is sapped... it's time for a nap... or some attention. [[Oh, My Poor Bones! Naptime! ->Curl Up For A Nap]] (if: $Energy > 0)[ [[Attention. Attention is Good. ->I Demand Scritches]] ]

(set: $Energy to it - 1) (set: $Charisma to it + 1) You saunter through your home. The human is quiet... which is rare. Perhaps she decided to take an after breakfast nap as well? You push open the door to her room to see. "Mrrow?" She looks away from her pocket rectangle to see you. "Awww, hey Stitch, you want some lovins? Come here!" That voice again... the baby voice... it sends the worse kind of shivers down your spine, but alas, you came here for scritches. Hopping onto the bed, you stretch out before her, only briefly looking at the bright colors moving across her pocket rectangle. "Mrrow!" Your human hits you in just the right spot. Giving you a lovely scratch right in front of your tail. Unintentionally, you start to purr at the attention. She talk to you stupidly, but your owner does know how to give you butt scritches! [[Curl Up For A Nap]] (if: $Energy > 0)[ [[Playtime! ->The Time For Play is Upon Us!]]] ]

(if: $Energy is 0)[Having thoroughly exhausted yourself and your options for entertainment, you curl up by your human's feet for a nice, long nap.] (else:)[Although there is still more to do, your feline nature calls to you... its time for a nice nap.] (set: $Energy to it + 1) [[Later That Day]]

A lightning crack startles you awake. You couldn't have been asleep for that long... and yet the windows of your owner's room lay dark and lightless. You look around frantically for your human... but she's nowhere to be found. Jumping from your perch at the foot of her bed, you begin to hear the //tap tap tap// of rain against the windows. A rain storm... your least favorite weather. Searching through the house, you return to the living room. Dim with the heavy clouds, there isn't much to see... but you can see the backyard through the clear sliding door. [[Continue ->Step Towards The Door]]

Taking a few steps closer to the glass door, you get a better view of the backyard. It looks different. There's... water everywhere. [[Continue -> Water Rising]]

Soon, you see the water begin to rise even further. You scurry away from the door and continue the hunt for your human, With each step, things become more concerning. It's so dark you doubt your human could see very well. In fact, even with your eyes, it's difficult to navigate. Slowly but surely, you make your way through the house... [[Continue -> The Beginning of The End]]

''CRASH'' Something breaks in the house, sending you several feet in the air in terror. Before you get your bearings, you hear something terrifying. Water. [[Continue-> Fear]]

As soon as the sound registers you begin to panic, fear making your limbs feel like noodles and the ground feel like its falling out beneath you. Finally, you begin to feel the water at the back of your paws while you run. It's catching up. (if: $Energy > 0)[ [[Keep Running]] ] [[Find a High Place]]

(set: $Energy to it - 1) (if: $Agility is 2)[You run as fast and as hard as you can, eventually making it across the house from the water, but it's not enough... the water is quickly filling the house, with you in it. You have to find a way out. [[Stay Put]] [[Find A Way Outside]] ] (else:)[You aren't fast enough. Soon enough the water catches up to you and you are caught up in the flood moving through your home. There isn't much more to do except hope you make it. [[Continue ->Washed Away]]]

You jump up onto the dining room table, frantic to avoid the ever rising water... but it's not enough the water is rising too quickly, and soon enough your paws are getting wet once again. With nowhere to go, you're swept away by the water... [[Continue->Washed Away]]

The water begins to rise. You try desperately to find somewhere to go, but there are no more options. Eventually, another rush of water comes through your home and slams you against the wall of the dining room. Soon, you're pulled out through a broken window into the greater flood. Now, you can only hope you find a way to make it out of this... [[Continue ->Washed Away]]

You jump onto the living room couch, looking into the windows behind it. There isn't much in the way of exits... until you notice the small crack in one of the windows. It isn't big enough to squeeze through... but maybe if you can manage to get a paw in to lift it up... (if: $Energy > 0)[You manage to open the window just enough to squeeze through, but in your eagerness to get out of the house, you drop right into the raging flood waters. All that is left now is to hope you can make it.] (if: $Energy < 1)[Despite your best efforts, you are far too exhausted to open the window further. Soon enough, the water reaches you once again and you are quickly caught up in the torrent of floodwater. Soon, you're pulled outside.] [[Continue ->Washed Away]]

The water rushes by at such a speed that it's impossible to get your bearings. With each passing moment, you feel the strength leave your body. Slowly, your consciousness begins to fade, and you feel yourself slip into uncisciousness. [[Continue?]]

Before anything else, you hear the chirping of birds. Then, the gentle babbling of a stream nearby, lazily filling the air with sound. It's only after a few moment that your other senses come back to you. The chill in your bones, the mud on your fur, and the aching pain in your legs. Your eyes shoot open after a moment and you pull yourself from the muddy pile you had been deposited in. There is nothing familiar to be found. No home, no bed, not even the street you'd watched from the windows for years. Just... trees. How could you possibly get home?