I HAVE FIGURED IT OUT.
Time to rant about the timeline I’ve come up with for my little unfinished AU.
And I REALLY wanna rant because I have SO many ideas!!!
Ideas below the cut.
So.
We start off at Moon’s collapse. Spearmaster is on their way back to SRS, when they hear something behind them, and look back to see LTTM collapsing.
EXCEPT. Her west legs give out first, causing her structure to fall INTO FP’s, knocking his over like a domino in a chain. Spearmaster rushes back to SRS as fast as possible.
By the point in the timeline Artificer is supposed to arrive, FP’s facility grounds have already frozen over, and all the dangerous creatures from Saint’s campaign come out to play. (On the plus side, the Rot doesn’t survive the newfound winter, freezing to death)
Speaking of Artificer, in this timeline, since FP’s facility grounds are frozen over, SRS sends out Spearmaster again to try and scout out how bad the damage is- Except SRS knows that Spearmaster is built to handle deadly wildlife, NOT the freezing cold. SO, he creates a sibling for Spearmaster. One that can turn their needles into explosive weapons in an emergency situation, who can light fires with explosive blasts from holes in her tail.
In this timeline, Artificer is created by SRS- As Spearmaster’s ‘sibling’. Due to some kind of mess-up with her DNA, her left eye and left leg burst in a fiery blast while she is developing, meaning her eye gets bandaged up and she gets a prosthetic leg.
Meanwhile, as NSH’s structure, NSH is no longer on a time crunch since he knows that FP’s facility grounds will be unlocked since he’s collapsed, so Hunter doesn’t have to worry about the Rot.
(EDIT) OKAY completely forgot about the Rot powers I decided to give Hunter so I need to redo Hunter’s section. So. NSH is on a time crunch still because he’s worried about how long until FP’s and LTTM’s systems have until they cannot be turned back on. SO. Hunter still has to deal with the Rot BUT as explained he eventually fuses with it and it becomes a superpower, blah blah blah. Anyways, he’s coming in from NSH’s facility from the northwest.
…Unfortunately, And on top of that, NSH uses DNA from a short-haired breed of Slugcat, forgetting about how FP’s facility will be frozen over. Whoops.
While passing through Outer Expanse, Spearmaster and Artificer encounter a worried duo of older Slugpups, Survivor and Monk, who have set out to try and find Gourmand, who was in the Facility Grounds during the collapse. Artificer and Spearmaster promise to find Gourmand and send him back home, and tell Survivor and Monk to stay here where it’s safe.
Survivor ignores them and follows, and Monk reluctantly sticks by Survivor’s side. Monk was born with type-two diabetes in this timeline, because why the hell not.
Gourmand, barely surviving the collapse in Shaded Citadel, scavenges for Slime Mould to satisfy their hunger in the cold, as they slowly start making their way up through the ruins, to freedom.
Rivulet, in the meantime, swims in from the east, getting lost and separated from her family. She wanders around until she eventually finds shelter from the cold in LTTM’s unmoving arms, for now.
(EDIT3) SCRATCH THAT SCRATCH THAT BETTER IDEA. So. In this AU, Rivulet is genetically engineered by Moon instead, as a sort of last resort, to deliver pearls containing her begs and pleads to Pebbles. When Spearmaster leaves and Moon knows she’s about to collapse, that is when Rivulet returns to Moon and just… stays with her, until she collapses. When she does collapse, Rivulet gets swept up in the glitchy, failing anti-gravity, and freefalls westward until she falls into Garbage Wastes, where on impact with the water she is concussed and given amnesia.
Saint comes in from the north and begins wandering the cold wastes, searching for what remains of Pebbles and Moon in the collapsed structures.
And Enot? Honestly, I don’t have any ideas on how Enot shows up, but honestly popping into existence to just be there and be silly is kinda in character for them anyways.
Speaking of Enot, one of their eggs hatches, and creates Nightcat, and Enot begins to raise Nightcat as their own, and by the time Survivor, Monk, Spearmaster, and Artificer enter, Nightcat is slightly grown up, around Survivor’s age.
With Artificer, Spearmaster, Survivor, and Monk approaching from the west, Rivulet in the far east, Enot, Nightcat, and Gourmand in Shaded Citadel, Hunter heading to the facility grounds from the northwest, and Saint heading in from the north, the pieces are in place for everyone to meet up in this new timeline…
Which is still unnamed! Reblog or comment with name ideas please :)
(EDIT2) Oh. About Arti’s kids, I imagine she adopts them when she encounters them while travelling through the ruins of Shaded or something and adopts them.
