What if things had gone differently? (one shot? minific?)

[Buster]

"...and I'm the only one here who could even begin to solve this problem, but I cant!" the small canine shouted frustration with the mess they were in, the mess she had indirectly caused, weighing on her.

A part of her expected more stupid comments, or circular asinine suggestions, though she never would have predicted the one she got.

"So maybe we don't." came the calm statement from across the room. "Maybe we stay here, Maybe we're supposed to."

The Pomeranian's eye twitched as she desperately tried to comprehend what she had just heard. She was going mad. Clearly. That was the only explanation. But regardless, all eyes were on the other speaker now.

"Grape... Do you have any idea what you're saying?" She questioned, her words ringing with clear confusion as she set the mist lantern down and stared at the cat in question. A look of utter bafflement on her face. The others, Satu, Sabrina, Max, Peanut, they were all silent, some out of shock. others out of curiosity, seeing where this was going.

"Peanut told me about the time shenanigans that happened to you two before, it sounded like what fiction calls predestination; what happened couldn't be changed because the possible changes were already there. And unlike a story the real world can't just change it's rules." She stated. It was strange though, she would have expected a note of defeat or irritation, but grape seemed perfectly accepting of the situation. "If we're here, were here for a reason. It we can't leave, maybe we're not meant to."

"That's ridiculous, we'd contaminate the time line." It was Sabrina who spoke up next, pointedly waving around the phone she was carrying.

Rather than make a counterpoint herself though, Grape asked, "Peanut, what part of Egyptian history does the ankh symbol come from?" Knowing full well the answer, since the enthusiastic canine had talked about nothing else the day he had found that Obscure Facts book a year earlier.

"The precise origin of the symbol are a mystery, a lot of the theories have contradictions, almost like it appeared... out of nowhere..." The dog began to recite before he trailed off, his gaze turning to Sabrina. Or more precisely, her collar. Noticing his gaze, the black cat fell silent.

"That implies our presence was remembered, it does not mean we remained." Tarot growled, not liking at all where this was going, or that the others were starting to buy into it.

"Grape..." It was Max speaking up now. "but what about you? You kinda stick out..."

"What about me, I might have the rarest fur color on the planet for a cat, but guess where it originates from? Egypt. For all we know I make that possible."

- - - - - -

Two months... Two months she had been desperately trying to solve this, the rest having left to 'settle in' in what they saw as their new homes, a few even before the first day was out... save for Sabrina. But despite the black cat staying at her side, Tarot could tell, even she only held onto hope because of Fido.

And I'm still no closer... She thought to herself poring over the collection of scrolls she had amassed. Her scrolls... Knowledge that can never be used by anyone after we leave... That I'll have to make sure either comes back with us, or are destroyed before we go... she reminded herself. Knowing all too well that any knowledge left behind after the lantern was gone could fall into the hands of The Players.

Not that the lantern was proving much help any more, After their group had split it had been strained to nearly it's breaking point just spreading it's effect to them all... She had disconnected it from Grape first, then Max. They had been putting the most strain on it just living with Ptah's clan and the nonsense that ensued.

Peanut had been next, after he had taken to training with the hunters and repeatedly venturing outside the settlement as a result. While it was good to see him enjoying himself, and keeping his spirits up, Tarot could tell he thought less of home with every passing day... Aside from the flowing red cape with the bronze 'S' clasp he had made when he noticed how much better shape he was in. That bit of home was with him to stay, even if it wasn't on a sketchbook page anymore. It had taken all her effort to keep him from inventing fur bleach centuries early after that incident.

When it became necessary for either herself or Sabrina to venture out and study the magic of this age things got even more complicated, as one of them needed to either carry all that they had collected, or stay behind with it, to keep it hidden. eventually a compromise had to be made. The lantern just concealed just concealed her study now.

(TBC)

[D-Rock]

I think I caught a Stargate Episode that had a premise like this. Seems pretty good so far.

[Obbl]

I always like a good stuck in another place/time story. Though I'm curious how Grape thinks she could be the one to make purple fur possible without becoming her own ancestor (which I would assume is statistically impossible).

[Buster]

actually, all she would need to do is introduce the trait into the gene pool. If the pool is small enough for it to spread through a decent population it will persist.

besides the odds actually work in favor of being part of her own ancestry if she stays, not against it. if you trace any given bloodline back far enough sooner or later it interconnects with every other bloodline of the same species, we just tend not to care since you have to go back dozens of generations to find some links, possibly hundreds if there is overlap in there, and most of us only keep track of or make a fuss about unexpected overlap within the most recent 3-5 generations.

if we assume no overlap at all between any branch of an individual's family tree, the number of direct ancestors doubles every generation. after 33 generations the total is 8589934592 which is more people than have EVER been on the planet concurrently at any one time. if there is overlap present (which there would HAVE to be since there have been 600+ generations of humans, and there are plenty of species even older than us), it would depend on the degree, but given the tendency to actively avoid overlapping ancestry within 3-5 generations it's reasonable to assume that result would still eventually hold true.

Also, worked some more on the story.

[D-Rock]

...I'm just going to nod my head and agree. I seriously can just make the barest gist of what you said.

Anyway, seems that two months is plenty of time to go native. Even if she finds a way home, good luck going back as a group.

[NHWestoN]

Intriguing... Lots thoughts but clearly plausible. Season's with history, though, often gang awry.