Prehistoric Salt Black & White (+Ketchup) Challenge

[Chiyanna]

Challenge rules that I may or may not forget exist and thus break 

 

and my own addition

@Modeer @Lizardcake I know you have been waiting for this! Here it is:

Our starters arrive on the island. They are teenagers sent by their tribe to a new land to complete an epic generational quest.

Grey Eyes is happy to find a clam next to him. He skillfully cracks it open with his nimble fingers.

Raana has always been obsessed with the sea. She finds a plant someone showed her once that gives the ability to breathe underwater if you eat it. So she does.

As everyone else leaves the ports to go about scouting the island and collecting food, Raana dives into the sea. She finds the plant has worked! For now she can breathe. She explores a seaweed patch. Then she notices the leach right next to her and kills it before it can latch onto her. Yummy, leach dinner!

Tribe overview. As of yet Tahai is the only one affected by the cold. Ember is watching over her sister Julie and responsibly gathering berries.

Tahai sets out to explore and scout for a good place to make camp. He finda a river and decides to explore that.

Grey Eyes realizes Raana is missing and hurries back to the port. Hearing splashing he stands at the edge of the water and calls out to her.

Raana comes to the surface but another leach has decided to try and avenge the one she had for dinner. Grey Eyes gingerly pulls it off her. She is grateful.

 

[Chiyanna]

Days 3-7

Julie is left alone for a minute as Ember scolds Tahai for straying from the group because he is going to freeze to death if he is alone. He explains he is exploring the river for a suitable place to camp. She tells him he can if he wants but he should stay within yelling range in case he gets hypothermia and she will come warm him up. He agrees, but is greatly annoyed. She is also annoyed at him, and annoyed at herself for caring so much about making sure he doesn't freeze to death. Why should I care? He's trouble, anyways. But no matter how much she scolds herself, she still cares.

Tahai dives into the river to demonstrate how annoyed he is and that he really doesn't care what she thinks, he's not a baby and can take care of himself. Ember is horrified and worries this will speed up the process of him freezing to death.

Julie is now a teenager. She went off rabbit hunting to help with the tribe's dwindling food supply. While hunting a rabbit she has stumbled upon an odd object.

Meanwhile, Grey Eyes has been picking berries over here this whole time and now Raana and Tahai are next to him and have created the first huddle of the playthrough. They have figured out how to keep warm in numbers.

Ember has come to check up on her sister. Seeing Julie's discovery, she realizes it is one of the Ice Chunks they are supposed to break open in order to find the nicheling their tribe sent them to find.

Ember excitedly breaks open the Ice Chunk. She does find a nicheling inside, but it is odd looking and not at all the one described by their tribe. 

"T-thank you," the nicheling said.

"Wow!" said Julie, "How'd you get inside that thing?"

"I-I...don't remember," said the nicheling, panicking a bit.

"Well, that's alright. I just don't know how you coulda survived in there," Julie said.

"Me either," admitted the nicheling, "so, uh, I'm Ismi, what's your name?" she said this to Ember.

"Ember of the Rock Salt Exploration Group," she said, "and this is my sister Julie."

"Is tha-that your t-tribe name?" she asked, a bit skittish.

"Yes, it is," said Ember matter-of-factly.

"C-can I j-oin your t-tribe?" she looked down at the ground.

"Well...." said Ember, she isn't the nicheling we're menant to find, and she'll be one more mouth to feed.

"Sure!" said Julie, excited.

Ismi looked from Julie to Ember fearfully. "As long as you can contribute," Ember decided, not wanting to scare the poor thing to death or disappoint her sister.

Ismi makes her way to the beach, knowing how to sift in the sand using her duck beak. Julie continues excitedly talking to her new friend Ember watches and keeps the newcomer warm with her heat body.

Grey Eyes is able to pick berries once more with Raana sight assisting him. All the original group except Julie grow into adults. 

[Chiyanna]

Days 7-10

Julie sees another rabbit and darts off after it. She successfully catches the rabbit in 2 moves, demonstrating her excellent hunting abilities. Raana meets the newcomer Ismi and is amazed to learn where she came from.

Tahai is instantly impressed by Ismi. She is exotic and kind.

Ember praises Julie for her hunting skills and picks up the meat.

The next day, the group hears some rustling in the grasses.

Julie runs to check it out, thinking it might be something to hunt. Ember runs after her, trying to warn her it might be dangerous. Julie is shocked to find that it is a huge bear. Ember braces for the worst as Julie slowly backs away. But the bear merely grunts and sniffs Julie before turning back to munching on grass.

Meanwhile Raana goes fishing. This time she unfortunately has no under-water breathing plants to help her. Still, she enthusiastically dives in, but with no fishing skill it doesn't do her much good to be surrounded by fish. Still fun to try, and that's good enough for her.

The next day the bear runs away as a new, more threatening bear shows up out of the grasses. It bears its teeth at Tahai, ready to attack the group.

Tahai makes a small dodge as it snaps at him and strikes it with his claw. He then runs back just a bit to give it time to catch up to him so he can strike it again. Ember frantically tries to call everyone to her side.

Tahai is attacked by the beast, this time it successfully rakes him with its huge claw and chomps him with its huge snout. He wishes to keep fighting the beast, but Ember insists that he run away...

And he listens. The whole group bunches together near the first bear and prepares to escape. Ember makes sure that everyone is accounted for.

 

[Chiyanna]

Days 10-11

The group spots an odd wanderer in the grasses as they run from the bear. There isn't really time to say hello, which Ember is relieved about. The last thing they need is another mouth to feed.

Seeing they don't have enough food to feed everyone (and really very hungry), Raana reaches for an odd looking berry bush. Smelling the poisonous berries on her, Gray Eyes yells for her to stop, but she eats the berries anyway and immediately gets a severe stomach ache. Gray Eyes explains to the group the berries are poisonous, and Raana will be sick for a while as the berries wreck havoc on her body but will recover.

Julie sniffs around for something to eat...and smells a few strange and dangerous scents, but also, prey!

Ember also smells that strange nicheling again...and she goes over so that she would be the first one he talks to if he approaches the group. He doesn't seem very social, appearing to ignore and avoid the group as he stands at the edge of the water.

Knowing they are still short on food, Ember attempts to dig up something edible she smells beneath the surface. But she is unsuccessful.

The tribe successfully hunts one stagmole, but the second one sees Raana coming and retreats beneath the surface. 

Grey Eyes collects the one berry on the frozen bush, but no more berries have grown. He attempts to destroy it to get at the undeveloped berries to feed the tribe, but isn't strong enough.

After scaring away one stagmole, Raana tries again with Julie's instruction and support. She's successful, and less of the tribe go hungry that turn.