Work Text:
THUMPTHUMPCLANKCLANKCLANK-
KAROTODIDNTWANTTODIEHEDIDNTWANTTOGOYET-
It was a stupid idea to steal from such an open market place, especially when a festival was there, especially because of the GUARDS-
He just wanted- He just wanted food! Why must they hate him?
HE JUST WANTED TO LIVE-
Heavy breaths and coughs left his throat as his feet stomped down onto the stone that slid across the ground, barely hearing the clanking from the heavy ringing.
It was so loud. The side of his head hurt.
Did they need to harm him for hunger?
DID THEY NEED TO ALMOST BLIND HIM BY PIERCING THE SIDE OF HIS HEAD-???
ITHURTITHURTGOD-
A heavy sob left his lips as he barely recognized where he was.
What was a description of anything worth if he just wanted to get out?
His glove was soaked with blood, holding it so harshly so he wouldn't bleed out, no matter how delirious the bloodless made him.
Everything was ripped, his skin tissue probably needing to recover-
But the sweat was something he never paid attention to. Or the dirt and the rocks and the pain-
No matter how much he stumbled, he needed to live.
…
At some point.
The clanking started to grow silent or at least the ringing blurred it out completely as the greyness turned into a disgusting green.
Yet-
They still couldn't breathe.
They still ran.
For their feet shall take them to a safer place, this body that was bleeding and making them wish they were never born, hoping for a vision that was clear.
The green and brown blurred, the wetness of previous rain went ignored-
What was there to say if fear nags on your head and buries it in flaming hot stones?
So, the little carrot kept moving.
At some point, he wondered how long he had been running now. It could have been years, months, centuries even.
But in reality, it was mere seconds and perhaps a minute.
And perhaps, at some point, he could stop runn-
BANG!
THUMP.
Karoto.
Hit something.
A harsh breath escaped his throat, frantic mumbling coming around as he suspected that running through a forest with a thousand trees wasn't that smart.
“God dammit, ow-”
He cursed, still hardly pressing onto the bleeding side of his head, crawling backwards.
Finally, he looked up at what he hit.
And.
Despite all his suspecting due to the sheer size of what's before him-
It turned out to not be a tree.
No, it was something far worse.
A PERSON.
“I-im- you-”
Karoto could only gasp out shaky words from his panic, the giant stature of the green-sharded thing scaring him already more than anything.
Well, at least it wasn't metal-
Sharply analysing the situation, he noticed that it was towering over him by at least a few feet.
It was almost reaching the trees, bigger than an average grown Lemon Bat and those were already HUGE by his standard.
They wore a gigantic purple and green mixed cloak, having some sorts of shards made up to make it, something he couldn't exactly find the material of.
They wore a giant yellow Wizard hat, Artichoke shells were for the hair and vines had covered their complete face.
The only thing on their lower body was their brown shoes, metal plating down on the flat skin.
And they stared.
Oh, they stared.
Or he…assumed such, for no eyes were seen on this behemoth of a person, backing away once more.
Despite all strength being lost, those fingers were still fiddling for his beautiful guitar, no matter how much it wouldn't work.
Not even words were shared for the first few seconds.
Till-
Well.
There wasn't a till.
For the giant Artichoke only moved its hands and arms in strange ways, seemingly trying to communicate with the little carrot.
Yet there was nothing to understand.
Karoto was starting to think that they were casting a spell- no, anything to HURT HIM ONCE AGAIN-
“Get- G-Get…away…’
His voice was nothing more than a breathy whisper, increasing with every blood drop loss from the wound, leaving him to shake and suffer.
It was white agony, every lurch of pain cutting out a piece of his mind to not keep the memories of this singular moment.
Passing out wasn't an option though.
FOR THEY WERE S T I L L T H E R E-
“A–I! Th— you a-e!’
Someone
Joined.
His entire body felt like it was on fire, it was sweating heavily too and his heart was pounding-
But he couldn't.
Pass out.
“O-Oh- OH NO! C—RONE!!!’
“Geez, I'm coming-’
And another.
The gigantic figure that was turning into nothing more than a lavender looking blob slowly leaned down before him.
There was something gently putting away the hand on the wound and replacing it with something soft.
Cloth?
NO T HIS SC ARF-
A NYT HING B UT TH AT-
Almost instantly checking-
Okay.
No one touched…his scarf…
Heavier breathing. It was all going away. It was fading and fading and fading-
The tears that had cascaded down his face were none felt, having dried with the soaking blood and sweat by now.
Especially once some kind of fluffy creature came to his side, supporting him to not fall over.
Karoto couldn't help but whisper as his vision started fading, two giant arms grabbing his shoulders.
“......P…l.e.a.se…”
And
Karoto awoke.
To softness.
Such a rare sensation nowadays, but he wasn't one to complain about the fleeting sensations that life gave a carrot like him.
Perhaps, this was oblivion.
God may have finally given him the release he oh-so wanted, filled with softness and sweetness, cradled in warmth.
So, the little carrot cuddled into it more, just as something on the side of his head hurt again.
Must be the aftershock of death.
A silent murmur left him as the pain grew harsh for a moment, just before relaxing back in as a gloveless hand let itself be traced over the wound.
Or rather, what covered it.
It sure wasn't skin.
…Brushing over it more, it was a sturdier fabric, one that didn't seem to rip as easily as skin.
Bandages?
The only reason he could identify such a thing so fast was because…
Hmpf.
Who cared.
It wouldn't matter anymore. Even if the bandages were there, they would be soaked in blood once more.
….Wait.
Why would he have bandages in death?
Deciding that the afterlife wasn't good enough for him, he blowingly forced his eyes open, confronting the pain that awaited him.
Luckily, the pain decided to be kind as not a single light was turned on.
Where…
Was he?
There was a wooden ceiling, so he must have not reached heaven yet.
Would he even go to heaven?
Too many questions. Not enough answers actually.
And-
Oooohhhh. Nope.
No standing up, the wave of nausea was already enough for his evergrowing migraine.
Urrggggghhh, who could have guessed that getting almost blinded and losing a lot of blood would feel so terrible?
Urrrrrgghhhhhhghghghghghgh-
“W—, let me ch—!”
Someone was there.
And for once in his life.
He couldn't bring himself to actually care.
Just take him already. He didn't have much to live for anyway.
Forcing his eyes to properly open, there was a red thing in his vision, bouncing up and down with something in their hand.
It was wet.
How did Karoto know this?
Because the constant bouncing was making it drip onto his beautiful soft sheets that she was ruining without any mercy at all.
How cruel.
How utterly heartless.
“Ah- Sorry, Sorry! Let me just…there.”
Closing his eyes for the bliss that the earth provided him, the figure seemed to be certainly doing something with all the murmuring.
He couldn't restrain the flinch as the soft hand touched his bandages, another pair of footsteps joining In.
“Careful now- kids injured, Toma.”
Toma?
“I know- I'm trying-! They just seem to be in pain still, Cami…”
Cami?
Nicknames are his thing though. That's all his.
They couldn't just take that and he had to prove himself, so with the cream-colored blur in mind, he spoke with confidence.
“....Yyyyouuu Purreeeee."
Or like he's on drugs.
Success either way.
Both eyes seemed to fall on the little carrot, especially for whatever weight he had and didn't care about.
They didn't like sharing their opinion from all the whispering they were doing, but it was all just Karoto.
Karoto really wished he had something to read minds.
Well, he can, but not really actually. That stuff only helps in gambling and only when he can see expression and movement.
Which was all really hard to focus on with the low pain Beating at his side.
Speaking of his side, the bandages seemed to be unraveled extremely carefully, the cream-color seeming to quickly put a cloth onto it.
The pressure was almost relaxing, even as the heavy stinging caused him to flinch and stir.
“Ah-! Sorry, Sorry-!”
Everything that was red apologized, being rather flimsy with the white cloth, cleaning up all the horrid, accursed blood that had dried.
It could have gotten infected.
…But these…people…
Had…
Karoto groaned and whimpered, or so he may think if he didn't keep switching between reality, consciousness, red-white pained blotches and the ringing of pain.
“There, there, you're doing great, Orange.”
Orange.
Orange?
The red one seemed to be a nickname person like him, the one also pressing insistently onto the wound.
A harsh, choked breath escaped him, something warm running down his face that wasn't sticky blood for once.
“Toma, Keep him steady- DON'T make the bandages too tight.”
‘Yesyesyes, I'm very aware. I know how to bandage a person!!”
There was almost a sixth sense to noticing an eyeball from another person, but it was currently half shut up as the wound got properly bandaged.
“That's it. You, uhm...with us?”
….Slowly.
The world didn't blur as much, revealing a Tomato and a Wolf.
Blinking some more-
Karoto had a form of consciousness through all this, the pillows and blankets seeming to reveal that heaven wasn't allowed yet.
And instead, it allowed a conversation to be heard.
“Wow, those blood stains are gonna suck to clean out, bloody hell-”
“I really don't care, Toma. The kid is more important than some dumb stains on my fur.”
“...But last time you said-
“LAST TIME we didn't bandage a kid that was bleeding out.”
A silence that was only filled by the ringing to his left came.
And a sigh let it leave again.
“...Yeah. Let me just-”
The bed- Couch- Place where he laid due to bleeding out - creaked as the tomato came closer once again, which he now got a better look at.
They wore a hat last time, didn't they? A hat made of metal?
God, their head hurts.
But right now, they wore something one could call a dark blue Poncho on a Tomato, some blue bubbles with an ocean allowed being stitched in there.
The weird, stupid Tomato looked worried, which was nothing he could understand if they may just escort him to the guards again.
Usually, he would worry about that.
Not right now though.
None of the ringing and beating pain in his side had left, a more important matter in the current moment..
Maybe that's why they both had gotten to his side.
“Probably still hurts, huh?”
The cream-colored fox, wolf- whatever with the blue vest with a t-shirt look said, nothing he could describe as he didn't care for clothing.
Nonetheless, Karoto forced himself to nod.
Maybe they were so kind as to end his life.
Instead, they seemed to take a moment more to stare before the Tomato looked at the wolf once more.
“Do we still have painkillers?”
“Uhh, well- iiii thinnnk. Didn't Arti buy some a while ago with you?”
“Oh- Oh, yeah! They needed some corticosteroids for their heat a few weeks ago, so we should have some refills!”
Karoto didn't have any idea what these two were talking about, but they seemed to be pretty good friends over all.
A murmur left his throat as he relaxed back into the pillows. Well, as much as he could with everything hurting like hell.
His feet weren't spared from running on stones and grass all day.
“Cami, YOU stay here! I'll go get them!”
Someone jumped off the bed from the loss of mattress pressure and the wolf called back.
“ALRIGHT-! Just don't knock over the toothpaste again!’
“I WON’T-!!”
The wolf sighed deeply, readjusting his blanket and tucking him properly into the bed with a surprising gentleness.
For a moment, he wanted to brush over the soft fur the animal had, just to see if it was as incredibly soft as it looked.
But taking a peek at the movements and claws, Karoto decided to not risk getting more injuries.
So, Silence it was for the next 5 minutes.
For as distrustful as the Wolf had seemed at first, they seemed to be patient enough to wait for their companion to return.
Trust was a feeble little thing, one that could grab someone's brain and distort it beyond recognition.
That's how Karoto stole from some other parties. Just let them build a bond and he can take the big treasure with the prize of some yelling and betrayed looks.
Luckily, the little carrot never got attached.
And never would.
“Uhm, You-...You probably want to know where you are, huh? Not everyone gets dragged somewhere randomly.”
Karoto couldn't agree more, shifting lightly and peeking out with one eye and staring at the room once more.
From the way the ceiling bended, they must be in some sort of attic, despite all the pretty fairylights and photos hanging everywhere.
It wasn't a room that looked much like.a bedroom, if one might make the most resemblance to one.
There were so many pillows and pillows and plushies that he would question how many people lived here, if he- you know.
Didn't have a pissing headache.
“I'm Cameron. And your kinda in our house which-”
“Our?’
There was a certain kind of victory in making the Wolf flinch by just listening to his voice.
Making people afraid of him was quite neat.
“Yes, our. The Tomato you saw was Tomaria and you probably met Arti?”
Ah, that must be…
“The ten feet discolored Christmas tree?”
Again.
Karoto loves making people look at him with such looks that couldn't be described by merely looking at them.
Such fun to try and figure out the thousand emotions in their expression.
“...Arti. You might have heard of them actually.”
Heard of them?
The carrot tried recalling where they would have found a kiddie-drawn Christmas angel one would build for a project with cardboard-
Nothing came to mind.
Not really a single memory of ever having seen such a thing before.
“...No. No, I have noOW-”
He was allowed one physical flinch from the beating pain, which actually caused a hand to lightly touch his arm, causing just another flinch.
Immediately pulling the arm away, both stared at each other for a blank stare match.
“Don't. Touch me.”
“...Noted. i-...The Painkillers are coming.”
“The what.”
Baffled expression, Widening eyes, slowly turning into concern and pity-
“You dont- Doesn't matter. Point is, Arti is one of the famous Hero's around town.”
He
Heroes
HEROES?
“THEIR WHAT-”
“Hey, lay down-!”
Karoto would have happily ran away and not done so had his body not immediately protested and lurched his stomach into oblivion.
He hadn't eaten.
It hurt. Everything HURT-
That meant that all that was left was flinching and letting out a whine he had rather restrained.
“Crap- Shh..Hey, it's alright. Toma will be here soon.”
“The stupid bubble bath curtain better be-”
Barely restraining the snarl didn't stop Karoto from hearing it, cracking a forced smirk despite another flinch escaping Him.
It'll be fine. And if not, then he'll still be happy.
Though, his inner calls seemed to have been answered as the supposed ‘Hero team member'-
-GOD, that already got his feelings to spike up like a volcano-
-Finally came into the room, holding a bottle full of something in there that might cure his problems.
Not that it'll do much for him, but he appreciates it.
“I got it, I GOT IT-”
“Great, just let me help the kid stand up.”
He's eighteen actually, but they may not actually care because they brought a random kid into their home without ever searching for their….
Their…
Caretakers?
Yeah, that's the word.
Grunting quietly, he let his frail get adjusted, letting sensation take over as he heard a faint pop nearby.
Oh.
He was correct.
The paws were rather fluffy and soft.
A nice little break from the blood that was drying up near his left eye, the bandages almost stealing his vision but probably looking badass.
Or pathetic. Whatever fit whichever facade he wanted to put on for the day.
“Alright, can you hold some pills and drink or are you too dizzy, Orange?”
Seems today he was going for pathetic, as being coddled and taken care of by strangers that think he's dumb sounded great about now!
Nodding it was then.
“Ah, Got you! Nothing to be ashamed of, my siblings used to do this kind of stuff too-”
Cameron - which was the cream-colored wolf - seemed to nod insistently, keeping Karoto steady against the blankets and mountain of pillows.
“Open your mouth pretty please?”
….Wait.
He insistently stared at the pills for a moment and the water-
Sniffing for a moment.
…
Hm.
No cinnamon smell.
Neither any bubbles or weird color, so it certainly wasn't drugged.
Hmpf.
Quietly, he allowed Tomaria to put the pills on his tongue, followed by the cup of water being gracefully tilted for him to drink.
They were being oh-so careful for him not to spill anything.
Almost like they didn't want to hurt him.
How sweet.
Taking a hefty sip, letting the pills slip down his throat, he soon settled back into the pillows, listening once more.
There were faint drips going against the windows, which checked out with how cloudy it had been earlier when he tried to steal food.
Something he now grimaced at. He didn't even get a single bite! It was all for NOTHING-!!
Or maybe he could manipulate these idiots into giving him food soon.
That would be nice.
Finally though, he started to close his eyes once again to blur out the noise, the sleepiness finally seeping through his body once more.
Horrid pain, exhaustion and blood loss really isn't that great actually.
Whichever of the three it may be that is causing this, Tomaria - he shall call her Vegetable to piss her off - and Cameron - Who has now been cursed with oversized teddybear-
Both seemed to still be fuzzing over him, properly tucking him back in and brushing back one of his messy strands.
What a weird gesture.
“...Sleep well, kid.”
“Mhm. It'll stop hurting soon.”
They weren't wrong.
The Pills did their job, slowly elevating the beating pain from his right side despite the wound only now starting to properly crust.
It was such a faint yet nice softness that the pillows provided too, helping to soothe the blow of turning over.
So, even with all the walls and caution Karoto usually takes-
He let himself take a rest.
For these two seemed to be oblivious of his former thievery.
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - —----------
—- - -
[LOADING ATTIC SAFE SPOT] . . .
[Tip: The confusion status makes your Teammates WEAKER! Luckily, only certain kinds of enemies can inflict this status, so it shouldn't be as bad.]
- - -
– - - - -
-- -
Karoto woke up with only slight pain a few hours later.
Forcing a grumble out of his throat took a bit of effort and he certainly wasn't the biggest fan of moving at the moment.
He only woke up because someone was once again fiddling with his skin and bandages, seeming to brush some sort of towel over him based on the texture.
Person must have been big, because the mattress was sinking like crazy.
“....S…orry. “
If he wasn't dead tired, he would have flinched hard from the croaking, choked voice that seemed to be cleaning him up.
But again, he was tired, so inconvenient at best it shall be as the blood that dried on his skin was patted away.
The wound, not feeling like it's warm liquid anymore, should have crusted enough to make it close up more properly for now.
Didn't mean that the person took great care to bandage it though.
Karoto quietly huffed, forcing his eyes open once more at the sound of silent broken murmuring and the hand seeming to finally finish up bandaging.
Though, his lack of forethought as of currently seemed to suddenly break everything as-
FOOD.
HE SMELLED F O O D.
Instantly snapping out of every delirium possible, he shot up, snapping his neck around-
“A-h- Slow-...S low d o wn-”
The croaking voice warned and perhaps he should have listened-
“ARGH-”
As the pain cut him off all the same, forcefully losing back down as the pain killers didn't forgive sudden pains that re-emerged after.
His chest hurt. It all hurt once more but he opened his eyes all the same with a choked breath.
A large hand rested itself on his chest, keeping it down and warming the pain till it was just a low, beating sensation.
Now, he wanted to take a moment to-
…
Oh.
Oh NO.
Karoto.
May have forgotten that the Artichoke lived here too, so much taller than him and-
THEIR A H E R O-
Heavy flinches wrecked through his body as they touched him again, backing away with all the force he had-
Which was none, evident by all the pain his lack of progress made.
“Shh- He-Hey…it s…o k a.y’
It slowly tried to deceive him into comfort, he was sure of it. No matter if their shell cloak had been off or their hat or their vines-
Wait.
Blinking confused, Karoto stared at the face he could finally see in terror, analysing it.
It…surely was an Artichoke, which he had only known as wild animals beforehand.
They had long, purple-green shell hair, green skin and a ripped mouth at the sides, one eye seeming to not quite work along with them as it seemed to be sealed shut.
It didn't. Look like they got injured? Maybe that's how they were created?
Whatever. They also had a black sweatshirt on, some stupid teal sweatpants as if they were the most casual person ever.
THEY WERENT-!!!
The only noticeable things left were their shoulders, which more shells on them-
And their arms, which had fake purple scars along with green skin.
A predator as one would call them on the wild, one which people should normally be afraid of-
Which he was, but who can blame him?
-But this one was almost…gentle with the handling, brushing over the bandage one more time before looking at him.
The eye hadn't been sharpened in any way, just blinking curiously and having that faint tint of concern.
Sure as hell made him question if he should pull up the pathetic facade again.
Right now though, there were more important matters.
LIKE THE F O O D.
This time not attempting to go through the 5 stages of pain, he slowly tilted his head over the right, almost immediately starting to tender up.
With eyes getting bigger, mouth salivating and resisting to just jump out of the sheets-
A bowl of soup stood on the nightstand, filled with meat and potatoes and a thousand more things that should actually belong in his stomach.
Welp.
They probably won't give it to him without some manipulation.
And he had just the idea to fool the giant predatoric Cone.
Looking over, he closed his eyes…
Before making the biggest puppy eyes he could give, tearing up, pathetically pointing to the bowl of soup like he was actually about to die.
HE WAS!!!! GIVE HIM FOOD!!!! HE'S HUNGRY!!!
Arti - if he remembered correctly - chuckled at the expression he was making, low and rumbling but still grabbing the bowl with the spoon.
Their giant hands, which were gigantic actually dear NANTES slowly helped him sit up against the pillows, the slow movement not hurting that much.
Once the soup bowl was finally hovering over to him, he near instantly grabbed it, not even waiting for any of the concerned warnings the Artichoke gave him-
And CHOKING it down so fastly that the juice was getting everywhere, devouring the bowl like it was his last meal on earth.
“Slow- Slow down!! You r go nna hurt yourself-”
Not something he cared about respectfully.
Not with the tears in his eyes as he finished it up in flat 30 seconds, not letting his stomach rest despite it harshly rumbling and complaining.
It was such a small amount and his body was already back to hurting again.
But he wanted more. M o r e.
“...You got anymore?”
He couldn't stand the fact that this genuine whiny tone was peeking through his facade like a bulldozer.
Yet the Artichoke seemed to sense the pain a little bit of soup caused him, tilting their head and pulling the empty bowl away for now.
“Downs-Downstairs. B ut first, ho w aRe you f e e ling?”
How is he feeling?
What a strange little question that's almost never asked.
Thinking about it, he was still rather weak from the bloodloss, but it was getting slightly better to breathe, especially now that the food was in his stomach.
Said wound causing the bloodless was also crusting, meaning it should start to regrow naturally. The Painkillers were doing their job…
Well, maybe his mood could be better and he could be gone from the earth, so there could be nicer things.
Nonetheless, it was rather fine currently.
That meant that Karoto slowly returned to his snarky self, putting up a smirk and slowly crossing his arms to not be in more pain.
“Alright, Christmas tree! You got quite the comfortable attic here for little ol’ me.”
Blinking was the only thing received at first, but Arti seemed to slowly settle down more against uneven walls, watching the photos hanging from them.
Now that his entire vision and brain wasn't obscured by pain and blood, he could actually see that there was a mini fridge nearby.
Also, he now realised the absurdity of a nightstand in a room full of pillows and mattresses on the floor.
Eh, could be weirder.
Returning his focus to the Artichoke- urgghhhhhh- H E R O, their gaze had considerably softened despite their giant size, brushing a hand through their scally hair.
“Good y our cOmfy. But I…muust ask.”
Leaning forward, they very carefully approached with a giant hand, asking for a consent that the Carrot only faintly gave by reaching out-
Taking his hand, he couldn't help but flinch at the size difference and pure warmth accompanied with it.
Like he was the cub and this giant Artichoke the thing that was gonna devour him.
“W he re are your pArrents? Your…veeeery smal-l and got bAdly hurrt.”
Karoto blinked in a confused manner, testing the word internally on his tongue, deciding the blanket was ten times more interesting than remaining eye contact.
Parents.
Paaarreentssss-
Yeah no, that word isn't in his head.
But with the way they sound, those figures must be considerably normal for someone at the age of 18.
Or someone his size.
He thinks.
Well, would probably be not the best look if he doesn't know what those things even are, so he decided to intelligently reply-
“Iiii…don't know. Don't have any.”
As if their expression couldn't contort even more, it sure did in a matter of seconds, unintentionally gripping harder.
Nothing he minded surprisingly.
The mass of flesh on their hands softened the blow despite it all, lowering their head more to his level.
Their head was probably the size of his entire body currently.
“I'm.. Sorry. That must be hOrrible.”
They clearly forced their speech to be proper despite all the raspiness, rubbing their thumb over his fingers like no one else did before.
It sure was a weird gesture, yo it was understandable.
Rolling his eyes anyway, he gave his best genuine smile that wasn't real to the creature.
“Ah, please! I'm handling myself quite well, if you need to know.”
Sure was funny when you can instinctively feel someone's gaze come towards a wound.
“-Beside today- Today was an accident! Or. Yesterday. Whatever time it was-”
A nervous chuckled forced its way out, showing everything he loved to say but will never come out for his own good.
Beside, once he's healed again, they can all drop the hospitality and throw him out, he needed to steal from the castle of this town!
GOD, he didn't even get to that, how embarrassing for the famed-
“Do you ne ed a p la ce to stA y? I don’ thin k my teammats wou ld mi nd.”
Wh
What.
What?
Huh?
Karoto blinked multiple times, staring as if you had told him that his scarf had been ripped in half, just not as intense and without the dissociative sobbing part.
Repeating the question in his head, he decided to give the perfect reply.
“What.”
Arti seemed to not understand the confusion, not with that face of calmness and genuineness that must be fake at this point.
IT MUST BE.
But they settled down closer anyway, making sure not to accidently touch Karoto without permission and keeping their hands on his hands.
“You sAi d yo u hAd no parrents and you'rre cllEarly sti ll young...I don' doubT your indEpEndince, but yo ur injurry is still…in need of healling.”
That raspy voice spoke so broken, still trying to get that message along nonetheless in the easiest way.
Probably the reason why they spoke in hands before he passed out.
Yet he blinked anyway, trying to understand such a horrid, stupid action.
“You wi elld a mAgical guITar as I saw an d…pperha ps you coUld jo in our te am for the time beinng and re St herre?”
Jo
SOMEONE WAS INVITING THEM WILLINGLY?????
HUH???
Karoto's rapid blinking and pinpricked eyes seemed to have broken the facade completely for a moment, as the Artichoke kept speaking.
Despite everything, still rather composed and gentle.
“It's ssuden, but not a lot of pepple run so fasst that th ey make me stumble by hiTting me.”
Oh, Yeah.
Almost forgot that part.
If he's honest, he almost completely forgot that the whole reason he is here was due to one sad injury.
Well, one big sad injury that caused him to pass out from bloodloss, forcing someone to bring him to their weird attic and not the nearest jail cell.
Probably a better option than the aforementioned option.
“Or…hol d on as llong till they ppass ou t from such a wou nd. Or go thRo ugh a forrest wi th a hun drred trees.”
As he mentioned, he nearly forgot that!
Okay, if he did need to add, the forest was usually the best hiding place from guards! Usually they didn't come there!
Usually, he didn't bleed out though.
Karoto noticed how many contradictions he was forming, but the stare never stopped.
Why should it.
“I d o n't…you don' ne ed to telll us wha t ha ppened yet. It's j ust an offerr.”
H
Huh.
The shock couldn't get anymore intense, but those words were…strange.
Incredibly strange.
You don't need to tell us? You can freely join our team? You’re free to stay?
For being such a giant Artichokey they sure couldn't fill the conversation with more words as the awkward silence sat in.
Or was it a nice silence? Silence is usually only nice when he is alone.
…
Hm.
Now that he thought on it, the offer…wasn't the worst thing ever.
If Karoto were to stay, he could possibly steal the fridge's contents, steal their gold, ‘borrow’ the clothes, grab anything that helps stitching-
They were stupid enough to fall for his facade after all. They couldn't be that smart!
Nobody would willingly put up with him.
So if he was an asset, he could be provided with food for his work and when he's finally done playing around after a month, he can leave!
No need for regrets, he would have plenty of clean-up of his reputation as the local current Mini-Thief, he could move on to the next town!
Everything was so perfectly laid out for him on a silver platter.
Almost too perfect.
But who was he to refuse such an offer?
So, before the Artichoke could finish their sentence, speaking up to break the silence-
“I mean-”
“Okay.”
Karoto responded.
Weirdly, the one who had asked the question seemed to be the one genuinely surprised by the response.
For a moment, the carrot nearly started to doubt that they were gonna keep the promise of not asking any questions.
Though, being proven wrong was a good thing today, it seemed.
Without another question, Arti slowly slid off the mattress and onto the ladder leading up to the attic, giving a little wave
“...Alright. I'll g et you s ome morre s ou p.”
And as if all was truly well, Arti disappeared once more, slaving him to his own devices.
Truly, Karoto could do nothing more than press his head against the pillow and stare at the ceiling, inspecting the photos occasionally.
They were a trio about to be turned into a team.
….
Honestly.
Karoto never stayed with a team for longer than a month, especially not one with a house.
They were mostly quest-addicted, hoping to get that sweet reward and treasure chest along the line, which meant they searched for back-up.
Most of them didn't expect a snarky Carrot bard to come around, a true Wildcard with the voice of an angel and a musical talent of a God.
Oh, his dear old scarf accompanied him everywhere too, as well as that old rack he called clothing.
It was still there even now as he laid in bed, which strangely let warmth grow at his chest at the trio.
That's dumb.
It's just a simple natural gesture, no?
But anyway-
All it meant for Karoto was to get the treasure, ruin his reputation a bit, break some hearts, steal from the castle to keep with his famous name and finally move on to the next town.
All in a month's work, he probably circled the earth multiple times by now!
Probably not, but he could falsely whisper dreams into his brain till such was true.
…Taking a deep breath, Karoto closed his eyes as he imagined the possibilities that now could be there for him, even if it was just for a short time.
A famous hero team, hm?
Would he have to have a cool name too?
The Rainbow bard, the Raging Wildcard, the Orange Thunder-
Not like he could use the name he wasn't known, yet was definitely responsible for.
GOD, too many things to think about actually.
Perhaps, all he needs is a bit more soup and a good, long nap to let the wound recover naturally.
Whatever that meant.
So, listening to the conversations from the trio so far away in the house, Karoto closed his eyes once more.
Not in pain.
But…
In light bliss.
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[LOADING TOWN SQUARE] . . .
[Tip: New Armor can fastly improve not only your looks, but also your stats! There is a special option however to keep those pretty clothes with your special stats.]
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-- -
“Urrrrghhhh, why are we hereeeee-”
Karoto had been in that house for a few days now and really enjoyed not having to go outside.
The Tomato, Wolf and Artichoke didn't seem to agree to such wonderful bliss though, dragging him along to things he only needed due to being a ‘HeRo'-
Maybe bleeding out would have been better actually. Kill him now.
“To get you new clothes, silly! Nothing against your old look, it's just. Uhm. You know.”
“Old and Racked for a child?”
No need to restrain a glare at the wolf when it was fully deserved.
One thing he noticed though when Arti started to have their hands around though, was that Tomaria suddenly started to speak in a lower voice.
Speaking for them out of nowhere.
‘Don't be rude, my friend. Karo must have had a reason.’
Is it because they speak in hands? Must be some sort of special language if it needs very special interpreters.
“Orange, You coming?”
He kept forgetting his facade due to all the recent exhaustion, but quickly forced it back up.
A quick nod was given, going tap, tap, tap against the rocky floor and ignoring the stairs people gave him for just existing.
Stupid, little freaks.
That's why we ignore those thoughts in conversation! Hence why he jumped forward with pure willingness to start one.
“Say, why are we buying me clothing again?”
Tomaria was happy to give the answer, ruffling the hair of the one younger than her.
Nothing he minded, surprisingly.
“Ah, we need to make sure you look okay! Your current clothes don't look-”
“MY CLOTHES AND ESPECIALLY MY SCARF ARE FINEYOUSTUPIDOVERSIZEDPAINTEDPEBBLE-’
“OKAY, I GOT IT-’
The Banter felt as natural as breathing despite his pissed off nature, quickly dropping it with a huff as Cameron continued.
“Point is. We don't want you to be uncomfortable. So we're getting you some new clothes made.’
Such a dumb reason.
This entire journey was dumb, especially to get some dumb clothing to hide his dumb scars and his dumb body and…
GOD.
These Idiots were naive, weren't they?
But fine.
He'll play along a bit longer.
Stay on guard a bit.
It'll be over soon.
Karoto won't stay.