Consider, if you will, an Oliver Quick who goes back to the maze to save Felix not because he changed his mind, but because he never meant to kill Felix in the first place.
An Oliver who had planned to confess his True Love to Felix and then die dramatically in his arms (hopefully with a bit of sobbing from Felix, or at least a few appropriately devastated tears and maybe even an apology for being unable to love Oliver back the way he deserved), and who changed his mind at Felix's very thorough rejection to, "I'm going to live, I'm going to leave, and I'm never going to think about Felix Catton or his terrible family ever again."
An Oliver who wanders around Saltburn after his confrontation with Felix, wading through the fading dregs of his party and all the people who were supposedly there for him but didn't even know his name, because he was trying to take in Saltburn one last time before locking the memories of this summer away somewhere deep enough to avoid for the rest of his life.
An Oliver who has no idea that Felix drank something he'd been handed by his ex-bestie who he hated now, his ex-bestie who apparently "makes his fucking blood run cold," because really? Honestly, Oliver was kinda surprised that Felix even took the bottle from Oliver and didn't immediately chuck it at Oliver's head.
Why would he drink from it??
Except, at some point in his aimless wandering, he realizes that the bottle is emptier than it should be. Except, there's only one way he can see for the bottle to be emptier than it should be.
He'd be already running by the time he finishes registering the understanding that Felix drank from Oliver's poisoned suicide bottle.
And maybe in this universe, Oliver gets to Felix in time to make him throw up, but not quickly enough for Felix to shrug off the effects or be coherent without a trip to the hospital and some serious bed rest. So by the time Felix wakes up, Oliver is already gone.
Though this is still Oliver, of course, who can use any situation to his advantage, even horrifically traumatizing situations where he almost killed his ex-bestie/crush/One True Love. Honestly, Felix "overdosing" at Ollie's birthday party is the perfect excuse for Oliver to leave Saltburn without looking bad to Felix's family!
And the perfect excuse to still get screw over Farleigh, in the bargain.
After all, how could poor little Ollie with his druggie mum and dead druggie dad be expected to stay in a house where his best mate nearly OD'd on drugs at Oliver's party? Drugs brought into the house by said best mate's own cousin, moreover? It'd just be too traumatizing for him!
Of course, it would also be terribly traumatizing for him to go back to his mum's drug den of a home, too... and he did save the life of Sir James Catton's only son, from said only son's own stupid choices... gee what will he do?
Probably accept some hush money from Sir James Catton that could be used to rent himself a nice little flat near Oxford for the rest of summer. Only because James and Elspeth were so insistent that he let them help him, though, if he was truly set on leaving Saltburn with like half the summer left. Let them help him, and also agree not to go talking about Felix's unfortunate little overdose with other people, that is.
(Maybe this Oliver even gently nudges the conversation towards the idea of Sir James Catton using his connections to help Oliver change schools, so as to really lock himself into the "Getting Over Felix" plan. Nothing like nearly murdering your best mate after he finds out you've been lying to him for months and then brutally rejects your love confession to motivate some personal change, right?)
And then consider Felix: Felix whose last fuzzy memories are of Oliver going all crazy at him in the maze only to throw up a bunch and then finally leave Felix alone; Felix who wakes up in a hospital a day or two later to learn that Oliver did in fact leave Saltburn... but only after he saved Felix's life and then brutally threw Felix under the bus to his parents, first. Felix who learns that, oh yeah, also Farleigh's been kicked out again, possibly for good this time, what with his bringing drugs to the party Felix nearly accidentally offed himself at.
That Felix would have gone crazier than Oliver Quick, waking up to all that.
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here’s a little housewarming gift; you never moved out but anyway
karasu who formed the habit of coming up to you from behind, leaning his weight onto you while snaking his arms around your waist and hooking his chin over your head/shoulder
he hums as he studies what you’re doing or what you’re scrolling through on your phone and although he can clearly see it, he asks “watcha doing, babe?/ watcha looking at, gorgeous?” in a low, husky murmur
100% knows what he’s doing too
no wdym i live in ur walls lmfao.
skahevdbdjsjensk what if i malfunctioned what then. of course he knows what he’s doing. bastard!!!!!
his voice is as much of a weapon as his freakishly analytical brain on the field, as his arm that create distance between him and his opponents - the arms that now stealthily nudge you even deeper into his embrace. it’s a weapon entirely designed to disarm you, and it works like a charm each and every time.
as expected, he can feel the tips of your ears overheating from how he has his cheeks practically glued to the side of your face. karasu has 20/20 vision, he can clearly see you just open an article on your preferred news site, intending to catch up with current event - god you’re so fucking intelligent he sometimes forgets what to do with his hands - but now your finger hovers frozen over your phone screen.
karasu lets the deep, hearty chuckle bubbling up in his chest roll from his mouth. he doesn’t miss the little shiver your body involuntarily gives against the toned front of his body. your relationship recently crossed the half year mark, but it seems you’re still powerless against him when he dips his voice in honey and pours it all over you unexpectedly. he secretly revels in it, that you’re so open about the affect he has on you.
“aw, what’s this, cat got yer tongue?” he teases further, but karasu hasn’t been paying close enough attention. you think you’ll never truly get used to the low drawl of his accent, but you certainly adapted to responding to it. you certainly know what crumples his defenses, also.
“no. just thinking about how i could exploit your tongue in much, much better ways,” you fire back, demanding and swift, and now it is you that can’t help the victorious smile twisting your features at karasu’s shuddering intake of breath.
oh, you have a weapon too, alright. and it just might be the same thing as his. he’ll learn to overcome it in time, as well, but for now, it is very, very effective.
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Trip to the Lake: REDUX
I have been re-planning how cats move between the Lake, Mountain, and Forest for a long while. Since @halogenwarrior asked some specific questions about it this morning, I finally sat down and made a 1st draft of the Between-the-Territories map, and a quick guide to the Sundrown Patrol’s Expedition.
NOTE: this is still a rough draft. SkyClan’s territory wasn’t included because it isn’t relevant at the moment, and Midnight’s den is nondescript beach as I’m still working out what it looks like in the revamp... since Midnight is a god now, and should have a cooler den.
(also i considered casually ‘revealing’ this is a world totally unlike our own by having the sun set in the North instead of the West at one point but im not that funny... yet.)
[ID: A map of the territory between the Warrior Cats ‘forest territory’ and the ‘lake territory’, including several landmarks. A Beach and an Unknown Town are labelled purple. The Tribe Land and its Stone Ward, Cave Ward, and Valley Ward are marked in blue. The Mouth of River Chell and Mothermouth are marked in red. The bottom of the map is marked “FARMS” in a purple box. The top of the map is marked “LAKE” in green.]
The Tribe’s waterfall feeds into nearly every waterway in the area at some point, and the Lake is the northernmost point between them all. Just above the forest territories is farms. There is now a sizable wetland below the lake territory, at the base of which is the Tribe’s third settlement, the Valley Ward.
In that wetland is probably more farms, roads, factories, and various types of human structures.
Travel time has been given hard definitions; it takes an adult warrior, traveling alone at maximum reasonable speed (not marathon-running), a full week to go from the Mothermouth to the Lake. That’s two weeks for a round trip.
This journey becomes longer with multiple traveling cats, or cats who don’t know the way. In addition, a lone warrior will have a harder time hunting in the unknown land and be more exposed to the dangers of the wild.
An adult warrior, traveling alone at maximum reasonable speed, takes 2 days to reach the beach. Going to the town is easier; that trip takes a little over a day. Round trips double the time, more cats are slower but safer.
So let’s take a look at the new Sun Drown Patrol Roadmap!
[ID: The same picture as above, but grayed out in color with red dots marking the journey of the Sun Drown Patrol over the TNP journey. They start at the Mothermouth, go north to the Lake, then go west to the Beach, go southeast and hit the Tribe Lands, and end in the Farms.]
Set-up Changes:
The beginning of the journey is a bit different and there are some changes to Bonefall TNP as opposed to Canon TNP worth noting;
Bonefall TNP is split between the perspectives of the Four Tigerkin; That’s Tawnypelt, Brambleclaw, Hawkfrost, and Mothwing.
Tawnypelt is the new leader of the Sundrown Patrol.
Crowpaw is a full warrior before going on this journey. His name was Crowfoot, he requests -Feather as an Honor Title.
Gods are real now; Sharptooth and Midnight are deities for Summer and Spring respectively.
They are starting this trip at the Mothermouth
Bonefall TNP: The Sundrown Patrol’s Expedition to the Lake
StarClan no longer sends them to the ocean. They sent them directly North, to the Lake.
Something happens that sends them on a detour west, to the Sundrown Place. I’m not sure what it is yet; I’m thinking it could be Fallen Leaves (is now Time Travel Hollyleaf) appearing to be a StarClan warrior and completing a time loop, or, Midnight creating a false sign to coax them over because she’s a lonely god who wants company.
From the Sundrown Place, they do a little bit of basic geography and realize they need to travel southeast. That’s when they hit the mountain.
There is no more Silver Warrior prophecy. The Tribe cats help the Sundrown Patrol cross the mountain, but recognize they’re long-lost descendants of the ancient Sun Trail Cats. There’s a happy celebration, interrupted by the resurrection of Sharptooth, a god who has plagued the Tribe through history.
The Tribe has killed Sharptooth before and they’ll do it again. They assure the Sundrown Patrol that they will survive... but the Patrol looks at the graves of the cats who helped them cross the mountain, slaughtered suddenly by what they think is a LionClan warrior. They realize that the Tribe will survive, but there’s no way of knowing what individual cats won’t.
(technically Sharptooth is a European Cave Lion but they don’t know that)
The Sundrown Patrol makes a choice; Do they run home to complete their mission, or do they stay and help?
They unanimously agree to kill the beast. The Tribe says they’re family, and this is what family does. A bit of a moment where the cats of the Sundrown Patrol decide THEY are family, as well.
Feathertail, of course, dies. Crowfoot is never the same. Sharptooth will return someday, but when he does, this time he will haunt the Clans... or at least, the Forest Territory they left behind. That part isn’t decided yet.
Because of all the detours, size of the patrol, and fact it was unknown land, the Sundrown Patrol’s Quest takes well over a month.
The Clans leave, together, shortly after. It still takes coaxing from each member of the Sundrown Patrol to get all of the leaders on the same page, but the extra territory-pummeling helps to encourage Blackstar in particular to be less stubborn.
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