Peace Seekers

[Solar-Eclipse]

The distant sound of stones splashing into the ocean, accompanied by a rustle of grass shortly after could be heard amidst the quietness of the jungle. A group of four young creatures had made their first steps onto the island.

"Is everyone here?" one of them, an orange-furred creature with gray, somewhat brownish spots asked. The others to looked left and right, each one counting each other and themselves to make sure they had all arrived safely.

"Seems like it," another one chirped back, nerves easing at the reassurance that no one had been left behind, or fallen into the seemingly bottomless ocean.

"Good," the same one who had asked the initial question sighed. "Now, we're going to need to be quiet, remember? We don't know what kind of creatures are on this island, or any others, so we could be in danger at any moment!" he instructed to the others.

"Wow, real comforting, Ember," a dark brown creature with thin, darker stripes responded sarcastically. "Though, that is true. For all we know, there could be some giant rabbil in a tree that'll try to claw our eyes out." The creatures collectively chuckled at the far-fetched idea of the predator, but they soon went serious again.

"Well, where should we go first?" a beige creature with white spots inquired, staring into the tall grass as it swayed gently in the warm breeze.

The orange creature, named Ember, looked around. To be honest, he was quite unsure of where to go himself. He padded back and forth, carefully moving the stalks of grass to peer through them cautiously, retreating back into his group once he picked up the scent of some odd, yet intriguing plant life. "Left, past that huge tree," he called to the others. "I can smell some plantlife there. I think a couple of them are the healing fruits we had back on our home island for if someone got injured, but I'm unsure about the others. They don't seem to be dangerous smells, though."

The others were somewhat comforted with the information that healing fruits were nearby. They could be helpful in case someone got hurt by something. Looking at each other, then back to Ember, they nodded in silent agreement, and followed him through the grass.

 

Hello! Welcome to my Niche playthrough. It's been a long while since I've done one of these, but I kinda felt like doing one today. Though I can't guarantee I'll continue it, I'll give you a basic rundown on the information.

This here group, from left to right, is named Boreal, Uranium, Ember, and Spool. They're a group of teen nichelings who ran away from their home, which was plagued with sickness, injury, food shortage, and endless threats due to the group they were born into being an unprepared group that moved to a difficult island when they weren't ready. They're a group that's searching for a peaceful home to live in, but they've ended up in a jungle, which is quite the opposite!

This story will follow their quest for a place to call home, and hopefully, they'll actually make it!

As for other information, Ember is the group's leader. He's a brave, selfless nicheling who would do anything to keep his group safe. He cares a lot about the others that travel with him, and it shows. However, despite this, he's overly friendly and trusting, and his naivety could lead to him getting hurt if someone tries to take advantage of him.

Boreal is the group's second-in-command. She's sarcastic, pessimistic, and somewhat irritable, but she's a realist who's down-to-earth, and she possesses a great knowledge of the world around her. She's not afraid to judge and deal with others the way she sees fit, and will speak her mind on things no matter how harsh it may be.

Uranium is third in the group's pecking order. She's the group's food gatherer, and whilst she may not possess enough strength to fight or hunt, she makes up for this in mental strength. Possessing a strong will, she's an encouraging creature who'll keep her head high even during the most troubling of times. She also has a motherly personality, caring for others deeply and helping them get up when they feel like they've metaphorically fallen down, and feel like they can't get back up again.

And lastly, there's Spool, who possesses the ability to dig that no one else has. He's quite cowardly and jumpy, always seeming to be looking out for danger even in the most peaceful of places. He knows the world is full of threats, and he'll go out of his way to avoid them, and find safety for himself and others. Thanks to his constant awareness of what's coming, he seems to possess the ability to sense predators from miles away, and is quick to alert the others in his group about it. The others don't want to admit it, but if it wasn't for him, they probably would've been killed by a bearyena or some other creature a long time ago.

And that's about it! I'll be continuing this in the next post, as this one is mostly just an introductory one, but I hope you'll enjoy what's to come of this! And I hope I'll be willing to continue this kjdhfdghdjkd

[Cloude]

I kinda really wanna watch this series-

[Cloude]

8 minutes ago, berri said:

spool is literally me when i play niche- Cowardly and jumpy, looking out for danger even in the most peaceful places, trying to avoid threats whenever i can.
also i'll literally freak out if i see a green termite hill or a peaceful bear so hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I run from peaceful bears because even with most damage things off thry killed half of my tribe of 60 something nichelings. It's a bad idea to attack peaceful bears. Just send webbed niche up to it with nesting material and don't attack it.

 

I haven't exactly had any bad experiences with termite hills or watched a bad experience so I just sorta crack them open even if I don't have a bug nicheling-

[berri]

38 minutes ago, Dysfunctional Numbers Foxy said:

I run from peaceful bears because even with most damage things off thry killed half of my tribe of 60 something nichelings. It's a bad idea to attack peaceful bears. Just send webbed niche up to it with nesting material and don't attack it.

 

I haven't exactly had any bad experiences with termite hills or watched a bad experience so I just sorta crack them open even if I don't have a bug nicheling-

How can a peaceful bear kill half of your tribe? when you attack them, don't they just try run away?

[Cloude]

16 minutes ago, berri said:

How can a peaceful bear kill half of your tribe? when you attack them, don't they just try run away?

Apparantly not. It might be a 50/50 chance thing? But as soon as he was near the children they were dead.

[Cloude]

2 minutes ago, Dysfunctional Numbers Foxy said:

Apparantly not. It might be a 50/50 chance thing? But as soon as he was near the children they were dead.

But it did help me create story for Board's children- myehyehye

[FawnCat]

4 minutes ago, Dysfunctional Numbers Foxy said:

But it did help me create story for Board's children- myehyehye

Backstory~

[Solar-Eclipse]

As the small group of nichelings moved through the grass, they stopped suddenly at the sight of two large plants that were nothing like they'd ever seen before. Ember inched towards them, giving each one a good sniff. The scents of each plant wafted into his nose, giving off no signs of hostility from either one. Turning back to the other three, he told them that the plants were safe, and that they could move past them and into the clearing ahead.

As he lead the group through the jungle, Spool lagged behind, having discovered a small patch of mud. He decided to roll in it, concluding that it may have some sort of positive effect. As he rolled in the mud, his scent wavered, and became disguised.

As they entered the clearing, making sure to hop over the piles of leaves in front of it, Ember looked around whilst Uranium sprawled out on the ground, the heat of the jungle not doing any good for her. He sniffed at a strange plant. It seemed to be the root of a vine, and as he looked around it, he noticed more of them nearby, seeming to be connected. He didn't know why, but he had the odd urge to dig it up and destroy it. So he did. Doing this provided the small group with a few points of food.

It began to rain the next day, causing the nichelings to smile slightly with the reassurance that any nearby food would be regrowing. Boreal destroyed a root that she was standing next to, and along with Spool, hurried along to catch up with the others. They continued to explore the small clearing that they were in, finding a total of three healing fruits, a few mud pools, a few roots here and there, tons of leaves, and two huge plants that they had never seen before.

Ember took the initiative of examining the plant, sniffing it. He reeled back, scrunching his nose up at the strong, yet not unpleasant odor that the plant gave off. He leaned towards it again, and this time, he picked some of the fruit off the plant. The smell instantly got rubbed onto his pelt, causing him to give off the same strong smell of the plant. Uranium, who was standing near him, scrunched up her nose at him.

"Ember, not to be rude," she started off, "but to put it simply, that plant makes you stink." She stood up on her hind legs, putting her front legs on the side of the stump Ember was standing on, and gave Ember a good few licks, ridding him of the plant's scent. When she was finished, she pushed herself off the stump and landed back on the ground.

Ember flattened his ears in slight disgust at being groomed, but accepted the fact that the plant did in fact make whoever collected from it smell as strongly as it did, which could be bad in the case that any predators were using scent to hunt. "Thanks," he said to Uranium. "You know, since the plants make anyone who touches them smell as strongly as they do, I say that whenever someone collects from one, another one of us should stand near them to wash the scent off them when they're done."

Uranium nodded in agreement, and called to Spool and Boreal, who were standing a distance away, to tell them the information. She then turned back to Ember. "You know, why are you even gathering from those plants anyways?" she asked. "I'm the one who's best at gathering here." She then proceeded to nudge him playfully. 

"Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't be taking your job from you," Ember chuckled lightly, before hopping off the stump and allowing Uranium to take his place.

Meanwhile, Spool climbed a stump that was next to a different smelly fruit tree, and nearly fell backwards off of it upon spotting another one of the tall red plants, Boreal catching him and easing him back up onto the stump. He sighed in relief, noting that the plant, like the others, wasn't dangerous. He decided to clear the grass enveloping it so that any other approaching creatures would be able to see it beforehand.

A few uneventful days passed, with the tribe gathering from the smelly fruit trees, rolling in mud, clearing grass, and calling out from the tops of stumps in hopes of attracting any other nichelings to their group. However, as they were clearing away some grass around the clearing, the tribe jumped as one of the red plants split open and grabbed Boreal, dragging her inside of it as she yelped in shock.

Spool and Ember rushed towards the plant quickly, clawing at it in hopes of getting it to either let go of Boreal, or being able to claw through the plant and drag her out.

They did eventually get her out after several clawswipes, the plant splitting open to reveal Boreal, who was terrified and bleeding. She instantly sprinted away from the plant, snarling at it as she did, whilst Uranium licked her wounds, stopping the bleeding. 

"Boreal, are you alright?!" Uranium asked in a panicked tone, quickly jumping to action and licking her wounds clean, stopping the bleeding.

"That plant!" Boreal shouted, her voice drenched with anger and shock. "That plant grabbed me! I couldn't even take a swipe at it before I ended up inside of it! Do you know how scary that horrid thing was? It was completely dark in there, I was wrapped in some sort of slimy tongue thing, and I was being digested by some sort of acid or whatever! Completely disgusting!" she snarled, sneezing at the end of her sentence.

Uranium smoothed down Boreal's bristling fur with a paw, silently sympathizing with her. "I guess we'll just have to be more careful from now on."

Boreal snorted. "Doesn't help that we all have short snouts aside from you, even though your sense of smell is the same as ours. We can't smell a damn thing out here, how are we supposed to watch out for these plants when we can't even detect them?!". She continued to grumble to herself, Uranium making attempts to calm her down.

Boreal sniffed the area around herself, detecting another hostile plant hidden in the grasses nearby. She snarled at it, flattening her ears against her skull. The others in the tribe knew, and took note to steer clear from the area.

As the group continued to move through the jungle, gathering food and clearing grass along the way, Ember shook his head as a small bug landed on his snout. The group seemed to have discovered a swampy area amidst the jungle, which was now plagued with bugs after it had rained the day before.

They moved around the insects, heading deeper into the swampy area, as they could sense that a port was nearby. Hopefully, whatever island was on the other side of it would be more friendly than this jungle seemed to be.

Eventually, as they came closer to the port, splashing through small puddles on their way, they found a toxic berry bush, which Uranium was happy to gather from.

As the tribe cleared the last patches of grass around the port, hopping off the island and onto it, they froze as theys saw another creature in front of them. Another nicheling, with the same toxic fangs and body as Uranium. The group, and the nicheling, froze, staring at each other for some time before Spool decided to speak up.

"Um.. h-hello? Who are- who are you?" he asked, stuttering slightly as he spoke, anxious about talking to a nicheling outside of his tribe, but still somewhat relieved that it was just a nicheling instead of a predator.

The other nicheling twitched an ear, his fur smoothing out slightly as he realized that the group of nichelings wasn't going to attack him. At least not straight away. "I'm Lantana," he answered. "And you?"

"Spool," Spool responded. He wondered  if he should introduce the others with him, but decided not to.

There was an awkward silence between the two, before Lantana spoke up. "So, why are you here?" he inquired. "You don't exactly look like jungle nichelings, though to be honest, I guess I don't either," he chuckled. "I'm close enough though, don't you think? With the poison fangs and all... oh, sorry, I should let you speak now!"

Spool smiled nervously at how friendly this nicheling was appearing to be, but it faltered as he debated whether or not he was allowed to tell him why he and his tribe were there. He looked back at Ember for reassurance, which caused the less bright orange nicheling to step forwards and stand next to him, taking up the speaking role for him.

"We came here looking for a new home," Ember answered for Spool. "However, we've decided that this clearly isn't the place after some unpleasant encounters, and are moving on to see what kind of island's on the other side of this port." He paused, then continued. "And what about you?"

Lantana perked up, a smile spreading across his face. "Oh! Quite the same for me! You see, my old tribe kicked me out for being too annoying... they couldn't really stand my non-serious attitude. They were all such downers! Saying," Lantana then deepened his voice, supposedly imitating his old tribemates, ",'We don't have room for jokers in this tribe! You either be serious and sad and grouchy all the time, or we kick you out!'" he exaggerated, dropping the deep voice after he finished. "I didn't listen to them, since I didn't wanna change my personality to be a grouch like them, so they kicked me out. And now I'm here, talking to you!"

Ember snorted. "Wow, your old tribe was really like that? That must've been a pathetic place to live in!" he laughed. "Well, since it seems we're both searching for the same goal, how about you join us? It's better to travel with a group than all by yourself, especially in this world." 

Lantana's eyes widened, before he leaped up into the air in excitement. "REALLY!?" he shouted, startling Spool and the others, the hugest grin on his face. However, he quickly covered his mouth with his paws, realizing how loud he was. "Sorry!" he apologized, his voice muffled by his paws. He then uncovered his mouth. "You'd really let me join you though?" he whispered, his eyes still huge like a puppy's.

"Of course!" Ember reassured him. "The more the merrier!"

"Well, of course then!" Lantana replied.

Ember smiled warmly, happy to have another member in his tribe. Boreal was a bit cautious and unsure about the new addition, whilst Spool and Uranium were neutral about it, but they decided not to object. "Well, come on then, we're about to cross the port," Ember told Lantana. And off they went, hopping across the stones, crossing the sea to see the new island that would greet them, hoping it would be friendlier than the last.

--------------------

And that ends this update! Welcome to the tribe, Lantana!

Lantana here is a random nicheling I found whilst on the port, as you can see! He originally had the derp snout, but I, notorious for cheating in video games, changed his snout to match his recessive snout gene, poison fangs! 

Lantana here is a jokester, seemingly never taking anything too seriously, and always joking around about things. Even in the face of danger, he'll laugh, and even dance around bearyenas just to annoy them. He has the mentality of a child, and doesn't exactly know how to deal with things other than joking about them, which is a problem for him. He has trouble handling his emotions, and can easily get overwhelmed. He doesn't try to find a way to fix this, though, as he's scared of potentially trying to find a solution, only to find out that there isn't any.

Aside from that, I hope you'll like this new addition to our tribe!

[Sky]

I just realized who you were after looking at your profile—welcome back!! : D

[Solar-Eclipse]

thank you! tbh I kinda stopped being active here out of loss of interest for the game, but recently I just kinda had the urge to play it again so here I am, since I didn't wanna plague the video game channels on discord with long paragraphs of my gameplay ;w;

[orinz]

lol. plz go on this is great! also this reminds me of what happend to me, i got bored and then had the sudden urge for niche!