“Help, help!” The little turtle turned around and saw a little cat, just a few months old, struggling to stay above the water of a small forest pool. The turtle quickly got into the water and swam toward the little cat, “Hang on to my shell and I’ll bring us to land.” The little cat grabbed onto the turtle’s shell and the little turtle swam them to the edge of the pool where it was shallow enough for the little cat to walk out.
The little cat thanked the little turtle and the two started to talk. Both were very sad and scared and lonely as each had been separated from their families during the storm several days ago and both had been wandering lost thru the forest. The cat told the turtle she had gotten into the water trying to get some little fish, but they moved too far away for her to get at, and she can’t swim that well. The turtle smiled and said not to worry, he would get the little fish for both of them and back into the pool the little turtle swam and he brought back a few little fish each for he and the little cat and they ate on the bank of the pool. After eating they decided that they would stay together and help each other try to find each other’s families and off they went walking thru the springtime woods and fields together in search of their families. As they traveled they, being young, would of course stop to play – romping thru the flowers and new grass, talking with the songbirds, playing hide and seek, chasing butterflies and bees. They ate berries and bugs and little fish and such and made little nests for themselves here and there. When it rained the little turtle would climb up on some rocks or branches and the little cat would crawl under and stay dry. As the turtle got bigger, and he grew very fast, he would open his shell and let the little cat in to stay dry. When it was cool at night the little cat would snuggle close to the little turtle and then latter on go in the shell with the turtle and keep him warm. If they had to cross some water the cat would ride atop the turtle’s shell. If they needed to climb up over something the cat would let down her tail for the turtle to hold and she would pull him up and over. And of course the cat would help clean the turtle’s face and back of his head. As spring turned into summer the two at first saddened little creatures that had lost their families became full of joy as they had become fast friends, no longer scared and lonely in the world. They seemed to forget that they were both orphans. They played all day long and into the warm summer nights without a care in the world. Two more happy creatures could not be found.
Autumn came and still the little cat and little turtle, now neither one so little, still played happily together, running and romping and hiding and seeking thru the multicolored leaves that began to blanket the forest floor. But the days began to grow shorter and the nights cooler and more and more the cat and turtle had to snuggle together in the turtle’s now fairly large shell. As autumn stretched on it was harder and harder to find food and the nights grew cold, and turtles don’t do well in the cold. “We must find a warm place,” said the turtle and so the cat and the turtle went in search of a place that was like summer. But they knew not where that was, and turtles don’t travel that fast.
Soon winter was upon them with little food to eat and nothing but cold. One early evening the first snowflakes of winter fell, something the cat had not seen since she was a kitten, and something the turtle had never seen. The turtle was so cold he could not go on so he and the cat went inside his shell for warmth and rest. The next morning the cat could not wake the turtle. She tried and tried and tried, but nothing she did would wake him. And he was colder than normal, as cold as the snow that was quietly piling up outside the shell. Something told the cat that she needed to leave and find some warm place or she would fall asleep and like her friend not wake up. But she would not leave her friend that just some months before had saved her, and she, not having eaten much in a few days herself, was tired. Staying in the shell she peered out and looked for a moment as the snow continued to fall. She then turned to the turtle, put her paw around him, snuggled close to him, and closed her eyes. And as the snow continued to gently fall outside the shell and eventually covered it, the cat slowly fell into a slumber that she, like her friend the turtle, did not wake from. All trace of the shell and the turtle and the cat were gone from the world as though they had never been.
Nature, who had watched the cat and turtle grow and play over the seasons, she who’s heart had been so touched by them, cried saying, “No, this will not do.” She scooped up the shell with the turtle and cat out of the snow and brought them to a place in the Demi Plane – a forest much like the one the cat and turtle had grown up and played in. A forest of spring and summer and early fall but no cold or winter. A place with enough food to eat and places to hide-and-seek in, and set the cat and turtle there and breathed life back into them so that they may continue to joyfully and tenderly play and wander together for all time.
How to incorporate aspects of the story into your gameplay.
Where the cat and turtle are is safe.
If you play with the cat and turtle and are kind to them they can heal you, bring good luck, and increase the party’s morale.
The cat and turtle can help you find food and maybe talk to the birds for you and have a bird guide you thru and out of the Demi Plane (should you find yourself there).
If you are where the cat and turtle happen to be you may have a connection to Mother Nature and or ask her for assistance or perhaps find her home.
