[Game Thread] I Will Turn This Car Around

[Fragmaster01]

September 12th - 2040. Townsville.
The dining center of a downtown Grocery Barn.

Well, here you are, despite all manner of things. Last you heard, the world was going topsy-turvy, everyone was fleeing, and no one really got very far. Vague patrols of armed canines meander the streets, as your new overlords try and figure out what exactly to do with over a million seized oppressors. For now, they're stuffing them into little concentration kennels while they dig out more permanent arrangements in the country to ship you to. Once you're properly trained and obedient, then you can move back in. Like summer camp! But with totalitarian animals.

You, for your part, were smart enough not to join the exodus. Slip out once everything's a little quieter, you said. And so you find yourself at the empty tables of an empty grocery store. There was no food(at least nothing palatable), but the soda machines still worked, and you appreciated some level of self-service. That said, what to do now? There's a good 15 miles of city between you and freedom to the East, and even more countryside beyond that. The roads are certainly clogged and crashed, though perhaps there is Glorious Loot in the cars waiting to be filched. And the subway, once a bastion of silly hollywood escape plots, now lays host to staggering numbers of humans piled up like firewood.

You shall need a Cunning Plan. Also some burritos. Like, the little cheap ones that used to be sold here? Maybe there's some still in the freezer that you could heat up. No? Cmon, cut a little slack.

In any case, the day isn't too bad. Overcast, but not in any state to rain, and it's a rather calm 60 outside. You could do worse.

OOC Intro yourselves! Note that checks beyond simple Knowledge rolls will take time to perform, such as scouting the grocery store for Things or mapping out escape routes.

[FoggyKnight]

Tango peered around the corner at the two-leggeds that she could see standing there. Two of them seemed to have tails, but they smelled funny. They looked like two-leggeds, but they smelled like animals. They had tails. Another seemed to be a girl of an adult age, but given how the other humans threw rocks at her this morning, but might not be safe to approach. No tail, eit--

Cat? Cat! Cat?! Tango whipped her head around to look at the tiny kitty that had caught her attention. The kitty smelled like old, musty dust bunnies and things that made her wrinkle her nose. Glancing worriedly at the two-leggeds, she decided that the cat was her best hope of a meal. She hadn't found food all day and she was hungry! Water only did so much to fill up one's stomach. The store had tricked her with the smell of food and laughed at her with its emptiness.

Creeping cautiously out from behind the shelf, Tango approached the cat. "Hello, cat. Do you have edibles?"Whuff. Ra woo, roo. She asked hopefully, giving her tail a small wag to show how Friendly she was. The last time she had talked to a cat, she had asked if it was edible, a very Bad mistake apparently, as it and half a dozen of its friends chased her off, hissing and spitting.

[Atalanta]

Cleo stared at the empty shelves with a distinctly put out pout to her mouth, with her tail and whiskers giving the occasional twitch in an annoyed sort of way. "Well this could definitely suck." She shoved her hands in her pockets and looked around for a moment, before deciding to

Dice Perception:

1d20+7

(5)+7

Total = 12

let her nose lead the way. She looked around for a while, but was largely just taking the time to scent the others creeping around the leftover husk of a store. Well, Mom and Dad did say it wouldn't be easy living on my own. Not sure this is what they meant. Her nose twitched a bit more as she thought, I hope they're okay.

Her nose hit upon a particular scent, and in the back of her mind, where she had ruthlessly shoved her "unawaken" thoughtlets, echoed, Squirrel! Squirrel! Chase-chase-chase! Her ears went back just slightly and she put her brand new thumbs through her belt loops, as if to reaffirm she was "above that" now. No squirrel chase. No tutu. No collar. Thumbs.

She meandered over to the soda machine and pressed the buttons, hoping maybe a couple coins had been left over. She wasn't really expecting anything, and it lived up to those low expectations. She jiggled the lock that kept the sodas inside and glared at it like it had personally offended her.

"Okay," she announced to the room in general. "I'm outta ideas. Any of you guys got one?"

[Andramal]

Ipkis must be the cat in question, and the cat in a hat (yes, he has a hat. A nice, disheveled thing he must have found in the back of some occult store to boot.Must be a child size too. How he keeps it on is an excellent question, but maybethere's some attachment to his makeshift collar and its pouch.

"I have no edibles on me.You shall have to forage.Raaaahhh~" goes the cat, which must mean something, surely!

Ipkis was perched on a shelf, fairly visible, but maybe not looking too alarming to those around. Then again, he was wearing a hat, with a small bucket sitting beside him, so maybe he was alarming! He started to groom a paw after answering

Then, he answered Cleo. "Well, in my experience, it is better to find someplace that you know has reliable food sources for yourself, rather than some abandoned food station. Not that I blame you - I think I found something tasty here once upon a time."

Talking cats! Woo!

[Pumpkinhead11]

Liz stood in front of a very tantalizing view before her. Slowly her storehouses, one by one, seemed to have been ransacked and ruined. Small hiding spots for nothing big, but purposely out of the way to detour any curious eyes. Though here was a treasure trove. She couldn't believe how much there was. Had anyone really not noticed it before? How could they not? There they were none the less. The sheer quantity could last her for months. She

Dice DICE TAG:

1d20+5

(11)+5

Total = 16

noticed people come and go, but everyone seemed to leave her alone so her focus was on the bounty that lay before her.

Her eyes drifted toward one in particular and she snatched it muttering a personal, but noticeable, "Yay!" It read; The Mortality Doctrine Trilogy 25 Year Anniversary Edition By James Dashner. A personal favorite of her's.

The question was loud and out of place. Which led to Liz hugging the book to her chest and running to a corner to peer around and actually look at the people around her for the first time. "Um.." she tried to respond, but a cat answered her first. That's not so weird anymore, but the hat made her weary. For some reason it made the furball seem... ominous. Shaking her head of the distracting thought she said, "Oo oo. That's right! I came for nibbles." It seems as though on her quest to soothe the savage stomach, she lost in an epic, but short, battle of wills against her long time nemesis... distractions!"Um... I might have an idea." She spoke timidly, but hopefully enough for them to hear.

[FoggyKnight]

Tango's head, ears, and tail drooped. Foraging again? There didn't appear to be anything here. No tasty burritos or anything. Slinking around the corner to a two-legged empty aisle, Tango did another quick sniff-over to try and Perception:

Dice Roll:

1d20+11

(11)+11

Total = 22

spot any food.

Coming back round, Tango looked at the others. They seemed to be talking, not throwing things, so maybe they wouldn't throw anything at her if she asked a question. Creeping closer to the person-with-the-fluffy-tail, Tango wagged her tail slowly. Pat the puppy, don't throw a book at her. "Are you a squirrel?" She asked. No, that wasn't the question she meant to ask. "What is your idea?" That was a bit closer...

[Ziether]

Tasha Dunderson Getting used to talking animals was rough enough, but furries without suits was even harder. Tasha had always liked animals. She knew a place was safe if there were plenty of animals nearby. Now that meant that there was likely an ambush. "Hello...people...I'm going to leave you be, I promise. I'm just going to go forage around a bit. I mean you no harm." You couldn't be too cautious around the new overlords, and anyone could be working for them. I really need to watch where I go. I don't want the Doggie Patrol to throw me in one of those kennels. Until I find some new lockpicks, I wouldn't be able to get out. Tasha went looking for the back room, maybe some pallets of food hadn't been broken down, maybe something had been missed. Having broken into the storerooms of stores plenty of times made this second nature. Living by your wits wasn't that hard, it was staying out of the hands of the law. With the *new* law, it was a different kind of survival. Breaking laws wasn't the focus, it was remaining unseen. And, more importantly, unscented. Intelligent bloodhounds were SO much harder to evade than regular law enforcement officers.

[Pumpkinhead11]

Liz watched as the dog sauntered over and sat itself close to her. Not too close, but enough that it seemed to be paying attention to her. Aww... what a cute doggy! Then it spoke. The fur on her tail stood on end. No matter how many times it happens. The talking I'm use to, but when I see it. It's... just... not right... says the girl with fur protruding mere inches above her butt. "Well little doggy," but she was interrupted by a human walking by with her hands held up in a non threatening manner. "Huh... what was I? Oh, yeah! Light bulb! The problem is we probably won't find much, if any food worth eating. That's where we find the Catch-22. I'm sure we're able to find some stuff like cake mix, but nothing to mix it with. Nothing worth making. Everyone most likely thought the same thing as us, 'grab food to eat.' So now we're left with, 'grabbing food we have to cook.'"

She stopped to gather her thoughts, as she wondered if everything just went over the dogie's head. "Ahh... What I mean is everyone's thinking the same thing as us. We might have more luck at a restaurant where they have freezers as well, but have been left abandoned in the panic. One big problem is that if someone were to just break in then others will start thinking the same thing."

Liz started thinking to herself that it was great that her friend convinced her into that zombie apocalypse table-top, where they were put in a similar position. Though this was much, much stranger than zombies. I was hoping there would be more time, but even their stuff has expiration dates I guess.

[FoggyKnight]

Tango's attention was also grabbed by the human walking by, paws up, but the Squirrel was talking. Tango turned back to the Squirrel. "Food would be nice, but I need to leave the city. I need to find My People." She said, giving the sense that she was using Capital Letters and Titles. "Alpha's going to be upset. I've been gone for so long..." She said sadly, hanging her head. She looked up hopefully at the Squirrel. "Can you help me?" She asked, her tail swishing on the floor.

[Pumpkinhead11]

Dawww... The puppy dog eyes were far too great to ignore. Liz carefully placed her book on the ground away from herself, and in a heartbeat she rushed toward the dog to embrace it. Nothing short of a bite would deter her from attempting to comfort the dog. "Aww. It'll be ok. I'll help you." She looked toward the other two standing close by. "I think the others would be willing to help. Especially since food might be involved." Looking at the other girl she wondered. Was she a dog as well? Her ears were huge. When her gaze fell upon the cat though, "maybe except for the cat. He looks like death's fluffy pet. What is with that hat!? It's weirding me out!"

[Atalanta]

As the dog mentioned her People, Cleo's Or at least, what she believes to be a sophisticated expression of her coolnesscultivated look of nonchalance faltered in a major way. She nodded an agreement with the squirrel-girl. She approached her, holding out a hand to sniff before giving her a short skritch behind the ears. "I need to find my parents too. Maybe we can go look together?"

[Ziether]

Tasha Dunderson Scavenging around in back yielded absolutely nothing. Seriously, can I PLEASE catch a break? I need to get out of town two weeks ago... Meandering back to the group of creatures she'd passed, she stopped some fifteen feet away, wary of the effect full humans tended to have on the furry ones. She made sure to keep her hands where they could be seen, carefully studying each of the furred forms. Fox...cat... Lab...squirrel...sheooot, why did I have to wake up in this sick fantasy...at least these ones aren't trying to put me in a cage...that gives me an idea! "Hello, I'm Tasha. What brings you to this store? While I'm here, does anyone need a scratch behind their ears?" she said, tentatively reaching a hand in their general direction. This could go really well, or really badly...Too bad I lost my handguns. And my lockpicks. But life is more important than those...

[Andramal]

Ipkis watched the going ones with relative quiet, but once the comment about him came up, he spoke once more. [b]"I am Ipkis, the Doomsayer. My hat is to signify my importance to those that do not know of it."[b] Or so he said with was much dignity as he can. It's not easy finding hats to fit, damn it!

"I am merely here to spread the word of the coming darkness, and give those a chance to try and redeem their lives to for the better." With a paw, and apparently remarkable dexterity, he pulled out...a tarot card? A Harrow card, actually, but similar concept. the pouch around his neck is apparently home to them. "Should you dare to see what your life holds."

The offer of scritches is met with the Cat Stare. Guess he doesn't want one. Instead, once the card was put away, "If you are all to travel, I shall accompany as well. there will be more along the way to give warning to."

[Fragmaster01]

You don't find too much in terms of food: the looters got to that already. Still, while the can soda machines are locked, the fountain drinks at the place still work! No cups, though. You'll have to put your face under it and guzzle like a plebeian. It gets your fennec ears in the soda drain and such, but this is the price to pay for Sugar Water.

You found a bag of chips under the counter. Do you fight over them?

[FoggyKnight]

"whatnobackoff!" Tango yelped and flinched back as the creature rushed her, baring teeth and giving a frightened growl. Tango's deeply-buried NOdon'tbiteyour familyNOTangoBadBite! came to the fore despite the past year's experience and she yanked teeth away from aiming at the creature's throat to close on a shoulder instead.

"..." What did the humans call it? Alpha did it all the time, but never with her. With the puppy two leggeds. The old ones too, the ones that smelled like cold-wet-crunch-ding-time and something sick. Goliath explained it to her once. It wasn't an attack it was a...

Tango drew back her teeth at once, shivering. That was close. Words, she had words now. The talking-sounds that Alpha had. Has. Things that made no sense make sense now. Sort of. She was wiser now. She could grasp concepts like people attacking people in good ways and creatures in the sky higher than birds that the two-leggeds talk to. Creatures bigger than her, with bigger teeth that supposedly shared chew toys and knocked a Good Dog on its butt to stop it if it was about to walk into traffic.

She didn't apologize for the use of teeth. She had meant it at the time, and the girl had scared her, but she was a Good Dog, and didn't want the girl to be scared of her, if she was going to help her. This event did make the importance of determining Pack Leader clear though. She would have to train these others to only...hug...her if she knew it was coming. Or to accept the responsibility of her trusting them if they were Higher and they wanted to touch her. "Bad Squirrel. Warn dogs before hugs. Humans hug. Dogs attack. Human like Tango, get down on floor and pet instead." She explained. "Bad humans hug, take Tango away from Pack."

Giving the squirrel's ear a lick to demonstrate, she raised a paw and placed it on the woman's knee, waiting patiently for the female to let her go before looking up at the second one to approach. This one was more familiar with dogs, clearly, and she gave the hand a polite sniff, memorizing the female's scent. Behind would have been better, but two leggeds had strange ideas of what was Not Cool for dogs to do to them, despite them doing it themselves when in heat. Hands were okay. Some people did not like her sniffing their face, though they were interesting after they ate. Maybe it was because it brought down their neck to her level, and they did not trust her Alpha to keep her in check. Puppies knew no better, and were more fun for it.

Tango sighed with pleasure at the ear scritch, letting her eyes droop. That was the nice thing about being dogs, Man's Companion had Man with fingers to scritch behind the ears. Wolves didn't have that. However, looking back and forth between the females, she cocked her head. "That will be nice. A pack is a good thing to have."

Tango completely ignored the cat. It was a cat, talking like a cat. Some new tricks, but...still a cat. Though, it might be able to operate a can opener. No, still a cat. As Tasha came out and introduced herself, Tango felt her ears prick forward. This female was scared. Of her pack. She was also not animal or part animal. Tango whined softly at the sharp smell coming from this woman.

"No, I am good now. I do not need ear scritches." Not from you anyways. You make Tango nervous.