In a strange world as a Doppelganger

Chapter 29 -The Choice

We lock eyes for a mere moment before it starts letting out a hissing growl and darts into the bush. There's no way I'm letting it out of my sight!
While it might as well be a creature in need of food, it challenged me and I am cornered by my own flavor of desperation.

I drop the deer and leap into the underbrush after the fox, grabbing for it. The fox must not have been expecting it as I get a firm hold of its tail right away and I put my claws together and jab it in the neck. Not penetrating quite as well as I'd hoped due to its wild wriggling but I do get a hit in.

The fox deftly slips out of my grip and bites me in the face. While my vision is distorted by blood and pain I can just barely make out the fox' shape as it leaps back, creating some distance between us.

Wiping the blood out of my eyes I feint to the side but the fox doesn't fall for such petty tricks, it could also have to do with my movements being very obvious. Regardless I rush at it again, raking at it with my claws. I swing wide and miss the fox by a whole foot of distance.

Again the fox goes for my face but I manage to smack it away somehow, it leaps at me yet again while yelping in frustration and desperation. Its own wounds must be getting to it as it falls short and instead starts running away towards where I dropped the deer.

I push myself to the very limit running after it, tasting blood in my mouth and feeling the exertion in my lungs. As the fox tries to pull a chunk of flesh of its mark I come down on it with my claws and I feel the warm flesh of its back muscles and the blood that pulses out when I pull back.

...

Just under an hour later I come upon a patrol of goblins and one of them recognizes me and offers to help, seeing my chewed up face and the two animals I am dragging behind me.

The goblin looks at me with a mixture of worry and amazement when I retell the series of events that led to me getting beat up, yet again. However it seems the rumors of my level has spread in the goblin village and he reassures me that I must be close to leveling up by now. I do hope he is right.

He helps me carry everything all the way to the butcher and recants what happened while I sit down on a nearby stool to catch my breath. The butcher raises a thin eyebrow and nods at me with acknowledgment, saying to not worry, "I'll get this all sorted for ye and we can discuss details tomorrow, you look like dogshit get some rest."

Laughing loudly the guard goblin leads me over to the bigger hut where the party was held last I was here and quickly I'm shown to a cot in the corner. Taking the moment in stride I decide to start the change and letting myself doze off into a well-earned rest.

Dreams fade into my mind and I see the sad person again... there is a sense of melancholy, even though the entire dream is just watching the person sit on a bench from dawn till dusk. As the sun sets in the dream, something happens. The view turns upward into the starry sky and a voice whispers a song into my mind, "Who are you? Who do you want to be? What you want can be yours, all you have to do... is choose", the stars then brighten into vibrant fractals of light of the entire color-spectrum and several images of me appear. I can tell that they are all me like you know where your arm is even if you close your eyes. They all differ though, in size, demeanor, clothing and disposition. Is this it? Is it finally happening? The choice the goblin granny talked about?!

The images before me stand on row, seven in total. The first one stands straight, wearing robes covered in strange iconography and holding a strange item in hand, the item keeps changing shape but I can sense some power coming from it.

The second form is covered in dirt and wearing clothing woven with living plants and fur, the ground covered in plant growth.

The third form is clad in armor of metal and leather, wielding a variety of weapons and has a stoic posture.

The fourth form looks lean and wears lighter looking armor covered in pockets and in their hand is an archaic and strange looking take on what has to be some form of firearm.

The fifth one wears loose robes and carries a staff, the hands wrapped in strips of clothing and an air of calmness surrounds them.

Sixth in the row stands a version of me with a beast by its side, the form wields a bow and carries a smell of the forest with them.

The last one is crouched, clad in dark leathers and smells of blood, a belt of daggers at their waist and a hooded cloak obscures the face.

Are these potential me's? Are these examples of who I could become? I have no clue who I was, am or want to be. A choice like this, fate-altering... How can I decide?

Hi Dear Reader!
This is Jocey!

I thought it would be fun to leave it up to you all to decide what choice we go with here!

Feel free to write in the comments which of the forms Doppie should pick, for those of you who play ttrpgs they might be obvious what they represent but the forms are just potential results.
Who knows what happens from here on out?
I aim to post new chapters every tuesday from now on.

Happy reading!