Your exhaustion overwhelms you, to the point where you can barely stand any longer on your own four paws. So, you decide to sleep; after all, you can always search for and examine the flowers the next day.
When you wake up, the sun is just above the horizon, and fewer monsters are roaming the streets. The she-cat enters your thoughts once again, ceaseless and vengeful. You shake your head, hard, as you try to clear your head to remember where you are. One thing's for sure, though: you're definitely more rested and energetic than the day before. The headache has disappeared, and your paws aren't as sore.
+ 15 energy, +10 health
Your first instinct is to continue to search for the flowers. Forcing yourself to push the she-cat to the back of your mind, you begin to head to the plants. The unfamiliar-yet-familiar scent of dog plagues your senses, leaving you on high alert. Every noise could be a foe and every scent could be an enemy. You're not a fool and you know you're not strong enough right now to even take on a similar-sized cat.
Once you finally leave the alley, a sigh of relief escapes you. The scent of dog slowly fades away, and you can rest (slightly more) easy.
Plenty of flora spread across the grass catches your eye, but none of it matches the flower in your dream. Frustrated, you kick a small, gray pebble. You lift your head to see where it lands, and where it does shocks you.
The pebble lands in front of small, yellow flower. Celandine poppy, you remember. A voice echoes in your head:
Celandine poppies can be lethal in high doses, so stay away.
Without a doubt, you know with a certainty that this is the plant you were poisoned with. Upon closer inspection, the flower has four larger petals, with shoots from the center, and a circular stem rising a bit above the flower. At last, you vividly remember the she-cat shoving the herbs down your throat, the choking feeling of your throat closing in.
Bile rises in your throat as a whirlwind of emotions clouds your head and your judgement. You feel like you want to claw it to shreds, retribution for all the information and memory the plant is withholding from you, and for all the trouble it has brought you. You take a step towards it, raising your paw, but spots cloud your vision for a split second, causing you to miss by a couple of paw-lengths.
The sun is now high in the sky. Although the heat warms your pelt, it is also becoming rather unbearable. The faint nauseating feeling is back and it leaves the feeling of something rising in your throat. You feel tired and faint once more, swaying slightly on your paws.
Your stomach begins to rumble, begging for sustenance. It aches from the inside out, and your throat is beginning to feel a bit parched as well.
-10 hunger, -10 thirst
You know it will take you a while to find food in your current state, which means there probably won't be enough time to learn more about the she-cat and the flowers along with finding prey. Finding water will also be a difficult task, as you do not know how to distinguish between potable water sources and ones which might carry disease. Your head pounds and the world flutters in and out of focus as you try to decide:
You can continue to examine the flowers, and figure out why the she-cat had fed you them.
You could also go hunting to feed and nourish yourself in order to be able to keep going.
Or you can search for the cats that you spotted yesterday.
______STATS______
Aspen
Hunger: 65/100
Energy: 27/100
Thirst: 11/100
Health: 63/100
YOU ARE READING
Memories of the Past - An Interactive Novel
AdventureUnfamiliar surroundings. A pounding head. Wooziness. You don't remember anything. Not even your name. But somehow, you know that you were left here to die, and you have to find out why. Memories of the Past is a choose-your-own-adventure game, where...
