With my concept revealing holes in it's fabric and one of my creatures fallen to bacteria, this has been quite the bumpy start to my C3/DS challenge. I also forgot to set things up so my Norns could have multiple births. That will definitely be fixed in the next post! It was rather embarrassing that it took me so long to realise. <o///o>
Once the Bengals des Neiges grew to adult stage, I made each into a team by placing little crowns over their heads. I then let all the females go through the selection test to see which room they'd end up in, locking off a room once someone had entered, ending up with one male and one female in each terrarium. These became the first pairs of Queen and Tom for each Terrarium. I'm explaining it here because I forgot to take pictures. Sorry! I'm going to try harder. At least now you know what's going on. I'm a bad blog poster... x.x (EDITED due to SpringRain making mistakes).
I thought I made the males do the test too, but looking at the pictures proved my faulty memory on this occasion. Looks like the boys got it easy, this round. That will change, too, for the next generation. Forgive me, this is the first time I've tried out this concept. There's gonna be more mistakes. Ahaha... =^_^;=
***
Powder paused in her morning foraging to glance up at the white glow above her head. A tri-pointed crown had popped out of nowhere! She had a sneaky suspicion that pink hand had something to do with this. Her ears went back. She wondered what it was up to. "Eat seed," Powder declared forcefully, making it clear she was going to eat her breakfast before any 'games' could begin.
Blanc gave a weary sigh and simply rolled his eyes as a crown materialised in the air above his wild white spikes. There was nothing he could do about it, so he may as well wear the thing. At least it matched his fur. He was a reluctant Tom, still, his paws had grown used to the golden sands and he'd long since figured out how to thrive in this environment. A map of the location of each bush and which foods they bore was etched into his mind. These days, he simply ignored the weakening pangs of homesickness and got on with things.
***
Blizzard was still having a blast running into the Stoperplant, especially since he'd persuaded Pure to join in the bizzarre activity. They ran towards the plant, only to be flung back with peals of laughter and meows, rolling on the grassy floor and getting leaves and flowers in their fur.
Pure liked the way the funny tentacles felt, like some sort of rubbery hairbrush. They were having so much fun, neither of them paid any heed to the vibrant green crowns that blipped into the air above their heads. Who cared what that silly Hand was up to?
What should he do? What should he do, now...when Miss 'Snow' was gone? Neige stared into the thick jungle enshrouding him, unaware of the gift of a symbolic royal purple crown. He was alone...totally alone. The whirring of the mosquitoes and the biting gnats had been bearable before but now that she was gone, who was he going to talk to and play with? Neige was sure he'd end up going crazy in this place without another Norn. He couldn't think. All he could do was stare into space while colourful seeds drifted around him.
Neige was so lost in his own thoughts, he never thought to actaully search for another Norn!
***
An itty bitty Angel threw her paws up in astonishment. What was she doing here? She was somewhere else a minute ago. She felt a little dizzy from the trip across, carried via Hand by the scruff of her neck soon after she'd fought her way out of her eggshell.
Eek, there was an ugly critter almost half her size in here! Help! Angel scooted away from it in a panic and ended up standing on some sort of funny metal thing above some grungy looking water, just as a crown popped up over her head. Hey, that was pretty. What was that for? She smiled a bright smile at the pretty object, distracted from the nasty rocklice, which seemed to think it was her new pet.
Last but not least were the blue team, Ice and White. Ice backed away from the Hand uncertainly with a soft hiss, ready to turn tail and run head-first into the sea if he had to. A pointy blue shape appeared above White's head and then his own. Ice knew 'it' was doing something with these crowns and boy, he did not trust it. He was so busy backing away, he almost tripped over his pet fish.
White stayed calm and played with her Elmo toy. She was pretty sure that whatever their Hand had planned wasn't going to hurt. After all, the first time all it did was move her here, to a tropical beach paradise with all the food she could eat and beautiful fishies to peruse. As far as White was concerned, Hand was nice. She giggled softly at Ice, shaking her head at the funny Norn. He was a strange one.
***
Neige froze on his platform above the other Norn. He'd only discovered her prescence once she grew tall enough to stand above the tall grasses and he could see her purple crown. That was the main giveaway. But to his horror, she had just done the unthinkable. She had let out...a SNEEZE!
Neige shivered, kicking the stupid rocklice that leapt up near hsi foot. Darn, those things were a pest.
"Hey, that's my pet!" Angel sniffled as she rubbed her nose from the sneeze, "Don't kick him."
Neige snorted at her "How can you even tell which one it is? They all look the same." He strode off to find a sweet snack to try and soothe his fears about that sneeze, only to feel an itch in his nose right when he was reaching for the bramboo berries. "Ah...ahh...aht-chooo!" Great, just great. He lived with a Crazy-Norn and now this. So much for keeping his own sanity. He was gonna die,just like Snow. Neige tried to stifle the surge of panic, as he heard a female Norn's reply echo in his ears "Easy - it's the one that jumps next to me and follows me around!"
***
Blanc was going about his usual forgaing for the day. He plodded along to one of the Tea Time bushes and stopped mid step when he was batted in the nose by someNorn else's tail! "Excuse me, are you lost or something?" Blanc asked without thinking, noticing the green crown above this Norn's head. She certainly wasn't Powder. Her fur had a floral, grassy scent and she was clearly not used to the warm sand, lifting her paws out and shaking them.
"I'm Pure and yes, I think I took a wrong turn during the TEST. What is this funny stuff on the ground?" the female asked, fanning herself with a paw. "Whew, it's warm in here! Different from my last room," Pure exclaimed, shaking herself off. She looked up to see an odd little tree that grew some very interesting fruit. Hmm, that wasn't a Stoperplant but it sure smelled good.
They could get used to life here. Indeed, both were soon expecting a small treasure that would be buried in the warm sands. This marked the Desert pair as the first Tom and Queen to have an egg!
White settled herself down in some soft purple grasses, sighing contentedly. She made it through the test, yay! Now she was in a whole new place again. That had been kind of fun, but it was a little bit too easy if she did say so herself. She grinned up at the Hand, happy and content in her new surroundings. As a cat type, this place was perfect. There was abundant prey, whippy grasses to stalk them in and an element of danger that added a dash of excitement. White wasn't scared.
Later on, she was brave enough to welcome a new baby Norn into the jungle, confident that her daughter would enjoy this mysterious place as much as she did. Or, she hoped so. Neige was a bit of a jumpy Norn for some reason, especially if one got sick near him.
***
The new Bengal des Neiges (only one, yes. Because SpringRain was an idiot and forgot about the multiple birth settings. D: ) toppled out of her egg with a cheerful outlook on life, heading straight for the patch of pretty fruits that popped up brightly out of the swishy grass.
The next team to have an egg would be Powder and Ice, clearly displayed by Powder's big tummy! :D
Ice was still kind of in shock about the whole thing, and had run away to clear his head by the seashore, while Powder stood on the bank and giggled at her silly mate. She cradled her round white belly, which could almost be mistaken for a big puffy marshmallow, eagerly awaiting the resulting egg. This new place wasn't as hot as the desert landscape she had grown up in. There were refreshing salty breezes and delightful palm trees, which almost made up for there being no rocks to hunt.
White and Neige's daughter eventually had her nametag assigned, along with a nice sharp claw mark, selecting her as one of the Jungle Terrarium. She didn't really care for that though. All her rumbling tummy wanted was more rainbow shrooms. Her favourite toy rolled nearby - a fun bouncy ball that looked like an eye.
***
Ice had remained near the seaside, talking to his pet fish and feeding it biscuits. His ears perked up when he caught sight of his son and he gave a proud smile. Seth continued padding around in the silty sand and singing to the radio, easily amused. The blue star that winked above his head marked him as the Aquatic Terrarium type.
Rathe stared in surprise at his crashed rocket ship, the little swirl above his ears a fitting representation of how he was feeling. It went up into the air, then it came down again. What would cause such a thing to occur? His parents (Blanc and Pure) were elsewhere, foraging for food again, unaware that their son might be a genius. XD
Angel, meanwhile, had found herself in a dreamy place, surrounded by flowers and wildlife. She snoozed contentedly upon the smooth wooden boards of the NornHome, awaiting her egg which would soon appear, while her oddball mate played with the Stoperplant endlessly. Blizzard never seemed to tire of his game. Angel had at first been a bit disappointed at being completely ignored for a plant. Eventually Blizzard had noticed her and realised they could interact without a barrier.
Apparently, the only cue he needed to return to the plant was for Angel to fall asleep. Blizzard just loved to play!
The last of the four teams to have any offspring (The Norn Terrarium), finally were presented with Silk, who was given a green leaf as her symbol. She curled up under the tiny bit of shade from her leafy shelter and giggled. Being high up in a treehouse, it was the perfect hiding place.
