Archive of Our Own

Somewhere it must have started.

Everything has a reason, no matter how much you want to deny it.

Everyone has a reason for their behavior.

As much as it seems unreasonable to you.

…..

Let me show you the Carrot's reason for leaving his town.

[<•••••••••••••••>]

  …..

Huurrgehhh….

Back hurts.

These were the first thoughts to register through the little Carrot's head as they awoke, covering their eyes immediately from the sun.

Bright, brighhttt, tooo BRIGHHTT-

They swatted weakly, grumbling and turning over to hide from the evil rays that were rising higher.

“... go away…it's earlllyyy….”

Karoto mumbled, curling up into a ball on the cold, stony floor of the cave that was soon shielding him from the warm Sun that came up in the sky.

That's right. It didn't deserve to see him.

Mean Sun. The Sun was so mean to the new resident of the cave.

Or well, new as in that they had been living there for the last fewww...uhm…days! Days. That's it.

That's fine. They've been adjusting to the temperature and feelings quite well despite the stinging pain in their back.

Quietly, the little carrot wrapped their arms around their ripped blue clothing, taking in the last of its warmth before that was ripped away too.

Just for a bit longer.

They didn't want to get up yet. Urgruurgrgurgg….

Just today, Karoto desperately wanted to ignore the way their back hurt, how the cold stones stung their entire body, how the clothes were damaged due to such a thing.

Or how cold they were.

Or how-

Grrrwwww.

Hungry.

They were very hungry, having just had some leftovers from nearby berry bushes the other day and absolutely nothing more.

For them, it truly should have been enough. They're fine without that much food! They're a strong carrot.

Their body didn't seem to agree though.

A soft grumble escaped their throat, forcefully catching a glimpse of the welcoming cold greys that made up the wall of the caves.

Wind was slowly coming into the cave too, causing their form to shiver and giving them the opinion change that they needed.

Sitting was better than back hurtie.

Karoto forcefully got themself up, pressing their sad, dry hands against the rocks and crawling over to the nearest wall to lay against.

Hoping that the corners would make them escape the cold that inhi…inhabi…came to this dirt. Earth. Thing.

Words are hard.

Karoto licked their dry lips, staring out onto the far away grass and greens, fresh with morning frost from overnight.

How unpleasant. Who would ever like the cold?

Doesn't even taste good.

What does taste good is delicious, warm food. Melting in their mouth, just…tasting really good! But that was back in-

Urgh. That place. With that weird sign and those mean people. And those weird children. Bleh. Disgusting.

No way you could make them return to that place! No way! NEVER!!!!

GRRRWWWWLLL.

…..

Owie.

Stomach seemed to be quite reluctant to agree on that.

But they needed food. The little carrot needed something in their stomach to survive the day, which didn't just mean river water or random fallen berries.

That meant going into town. And talking to people with complicated words. And taking their food.

Their yummy food which should be in the Carrot's tummy.

Karoto nodded to themself, knowing that made complete sense once they forced their weak legs to stand up and waddle forward.

One of their Caretakers - Horridle name by the way - once said that Karoto had duck feet, which meant they were walking wrong.

Whatever.

Duck feet were fun!!!!!

Though, what wasn't fun was the cold breeze immediantly hitting their tiny body, forcing a shiver out of their tiny form and making them grumble.

Grumbling all the way down the mountain as they left the cave, properly adjusting their clothing and staring at their or…orange hands.

Weird orange. It's very white and sick, as the other children would say. They think.

They’re not entirely sure now that the other children weren't there.

Karoto shrugged it off anyway, for it was none of their business if the other stupid vege..veggibales thought that they were stupid and sick!

They were alright! More than alright even!!! They didn't even need any adults!!!

That's why they could step through the town with ease once they reached it, stumbling around for any kind of suste- food. Food.

Food is what they wanted.

And Karoto had spotted something that was Food while nearly bumping into nearby giants, finding the fruit that was their color but much, much brighter, perfect!!!

Being deserving of food was great.

The little carrot couldn't help the snicker that escaped them, stumbling around and giving a big, happy smile that no one else reflected towards them.

Touching the wood carefully, there were quiet stares at the size different that the stand had to the tiny body of theirs.

Nothing that stopped them from stealing cookies and oatmeal from the local cabinet in the warm home before!

With a quiet preparation by touching the wooden stick, they put a foot down on the hardwood, making sure to get enough height to grab those round balls.

Oraaaa…Orangis. Oranges!!!! Oranges.

The Mean Caretakers never gave them Oranges before, even though they talked and taught them about different fruits and Veggitables.

Shows one how mean they were.

Though, Stopping them was absolutely nothing now that they tried grabbing a few of them, grumbling and murmuring as they swatted and grabbed and-

THUMP.

Fell back onto their back apparently with a quiet grumble, almost flinching at the SHRIP sound that their poor clothing was making.

Karoto was aware that this warmth wouldn't hold on for long…and people may scream at them again for not wearing clothes!

Weird when the normality is to not wear pants or simply just wear a scarf or something.

Hm. They also didn't have the greatest grip with their fingers, which ended up with them staring at their fract…broken and dry hands.

Small cuts. Not watered. Just miserably pale.

“Hmmpf.”

The little carrot grumbled, but knee that this just wouldn't do. Their hands were already red and hurting from the slightest pressure!

They needed something to protect their hands from imminent demise, something soft, something nice…

With a quiet hum, they quickly snatched an orange before anyone could see, running off and holding it close while their feet pressed against the stoney path.

Much preferred the cold and wet grass, Thank youuuuu-

Current important thing however was searching for new warm clothing, especially after their old ones ripped apart so sadly.

Every alleyway was peaked into, seeing what use they could give the little child in the future.

“Food…mm…Nooo, That's the sound thing….anndddd…..”

A blink.

“Ah!”

Karoto gasped with excitement, looking around to check if anyone was spying on them for doing absolutely nothing-

Not finding anyone paying attention to them, they sprinted into the alleyway, having found the Jackpot of all Jackpots beside the other Alleyways.

A CLOTHING SHOP TRASH CONTAINER!!!

THANK WHOEVER IN THE SKY OR EARTH FOR PERFECTIONIST ISSUES!!!

Running over to the gift and practically jumping face first into the open lid, Karoto smashed his face into the soft material, enjoying the warmth for a whole moment.

So soft…so sweet, even if some textures were scratchy or different or weird-!!

That means it's perfect for diving into it for new clothes, which was exactly what Karoto was doing with one quick jump from the edge.

Snickers were heard all throughout the container for a moment, rustling and mumbling as several clothing pieces were thrown into nowhere

“Too thin, too thick, too big, too small somehow-”

Sure, maybe they were far from being the judge of clothing and style, which was exactly why prettiness was the least important thing in their plan right now.

It just needed to work. It just needed to look well and a bit more normal and-

BINGO.

One quick pull revealed a piece of clothing that somehow was exactly their size and looking mighty good!

At least in their eyes.

A tattered jacket in muted red, lined in a gold-like yellow around the collar, which made it almost seem fancy despite all the rips and tears it had.

Some checker…board games patterns of cuts was something they recognized at the bottom, even if again, rips made it hard to clearly see.

Its sleeves were short too, copying that gold-like yellow like a boomerang!

It was Perfect.

Well, beside all the little mistakes in it, which can simply be solved by grabbing more broken, abandoned pieces of clothing!!

Another pull revealed a ripped, orange pullover piece where only the sleeves survived, quickly put beside the dumpster as they absently looked at the stolen orange again.

They lightly peeled it with their thumb, revealing its soft inner core while another hand scurried through the dumpster just one more time for materials.

So, while Orange peels started to dirty the leftover clothes, another treasure was found amidst the piles of clothing.

Actually, two treasures!

Sweet, pure white gloves that barely had any measurements on them and felt really soft, small puddings along the lines for easier motions-

Paddings? Puddings? Whatever.

And the most important part-

A needle that was starting to bend and rot away and a wooly clothing that was ripping at the seams, practically inviting them to take it as string!

JACKPOT!!!!

Mischievous chuckles left their throat as he had the most eager smile on their face, stretching along their lips to the point of mania.

They were given the joys of the world! They could make this clothing piece a piece of art and-

Grwww.

Ah.

Stomach. RighttheirHungryy-

Throwing the clothes and needle to a confident spot, the orange has successfully been peeled back.

It's orange…Orange? Orange is called Orange but also Orange is the color of an Orange.

Whatever. Who cared-? As long as the orange tasted good on their lips, they didn't truly care! It was food!

With an enthusiastic hum, Karoto shoved the Orange into their mouth, letting the juiciness, weird bitterness and the citrus aftertaste hit them.

….

Hm.

Fruit doesn't taste that good, actually.

It's juicy, sure. Full of flavor. Natural as one would say, but it's….cold.

Bitter and cold that dumb Orange is, making them glare down at the fruit that betrayed their hunger by tasting awful.

But it's Food, isn't it?

They should be grateful.

That's what the Caretakers would say. They say a whole lot of things when the day is long.

Days are too long in Karoto's opinion.

Karoto decided that they preferred to now go work on the clothing piece rather than mull over the fruit that they didn't like.

So, they instead put the whole thing into their mouth, chewed harshly and swallowed, ignoring the incoming ache due to a small stomach.

Shrugs would surely evaluate the pain and working on their Masterpiece would give them the ability to ignore that pain completely!

Quickly jumping down from the clothing trash can, they grabbed all the clothing pieces they needed, the bent needle and two pieces of broken clothing as repairment methods.

Did they have any idea how to sew?

Nope.

Anyway, they attempted their sewing journey, taking the sleeves and attaching those to the clothing, using the leftover yarn, poking themselves accidentally-

It took a bit, making their stomach be able to calm down from the constant pressure while they struggled to not rip the clothing piece apart more than necessary.

….Just after a few minutes however-

Their work was complete, making them be able to hold it up for themself.

It was still a tattered jacket in muted red, lined in a gold-like yellow around the collar in contrast to the now weathering and brown stitched patching that crept up from below.

Its sleeves were short, and upon closer inspection one would see they were not a part of the original material, but added on later as a quick-fix, staying up enough to allow the thick, orange undershirt to peek through and warmly run down the rest of the arm.

The Gloves also still looked fine, which was also the first thing to come onto his dry, uncared for hands that they probably would have to wash in a river or something.

Carefully, they put on all the clothing pieces they fixed up, looking over themselves with a happy smile.

Maybe ignoring the stitches that were loose or falling apart because why would that matter-

They had proper clothing now! They can fix everything up properly later.

And the best part?

Shuffle shuffle.

They had POCKETS.

A giant grin was something that Karoto didn't always have on their face, but this time the carrot could not deny the size.

It almost made their face hurt, but it was most absolutely WORTH IT!!!

Their neck felt just a bit empty, but that was fine. Their neck felt empty a lot of times, mostly because it wasn't used to swallow anything.

Something they could now change-!

Grrrwwww.

What a Good sign to finally get that food they wanted the entire time!

Stumbling out of the alleyway with the clothes that stayed together with hopes, dreams and a wool line that somehow survived, the carrot sprinted once again over to the stand.

Those bitter Oranges were still there, probably now left to be untouched due to how horrible they tasted.

How could anyone eat such disgusting things?

Instead, the little vegetable started jumping up to the apa…aaapplas. Apples. Apples?

They couldn't truly see what was on the sign, but that didn't stop them from wheezing when they pressed their stomach over the wooden box that held those apples.

“Aregh-”

Karoto forced themselves to grab for the Apples, grumbling and making pained noises all the way with bitten lips.

“Come on- COME ON, APPIE-”

“OY, YOU YOUNGLING!!”

GRAB-

AAAAAAAAA DON'T GRAB ME MEAN MEAN MEAN TO ME EXTREMELY MEAN-

Karoto didn't find it that great that some idiot Watermelon was grabbing them by their freshly sewn clothes, hissing and yelping and squirming and fighting-!!!

The Adult stared at them with a look they could only place from other Caretakers, just not as stern as they put the small carrot down.

They, obviously, got into a defensive pose immediately, glaring up at the stupid fruit that was invading their sweet, yummy space.

Even if they were staring at them so stupidly judgemental, they didn't seem to touch them otherwise, just standing in front of the sweet fruits.

And of course, they talked. Talked like-

“Don't you know you shouldn't steal from another person, Kid-?”

Karoto let out a truly offended gasp.

HOW DARE THEY ASSUME THEY WERE STEALING???

IT WAS TRUE BUT STILL.

Well, not like they got any other option-! Asking for permission to grab a fruit was always a fini…weird thing and they didn't know if this Watermelon would accept that-

Without any words to form such a sentence, Karoto stared very hard into the big fruit's eyes.

Maybe they'll be intimidated enough to give it to them!!!

…The Watermelon stared very silently before giving one annoyed sigh, kneeling down in front of the small carrot with new, pretty clothing that was clearly high-effort.

Wink wink. Wink. Wink-Wink.

“Do you at least got any Kromer to buy it?”

….

Huh.

Huh?

What? Hm? What's that. Huh. What.

Kr…krooommar-? Cromar?

Karoto blinked, entirely losing the stare, instead tilting their small head to the side while rubbing their new clothes.

The Watermelon blinked back.

“You know? Currency. Cash. Money? Golden coins you use to buy things?”

Karoto decided blinking once again was truly ideal.

And the Watermelon's expression morphed from annoyance to genuine surprise, also getting the blinkie blinks.

“..Genuinely? Didn't your P̵̛͖̲͍̘̜̐̓̑̀͂̋̉̓̆̍̈́̀͌͒́̔̊̓̀̽̈̌̔̓̍̊̓́̔̈̾̏͋̋̍̏̌͌̑̏̚̚͝͝͝ ̶̧̢̛̛̟̼̼͍͉̫̥͈̱̻̼̗̫̩̟̜̣̩̊̎̒͂̿̀̀̓͂̃̊̆́̾̂͗̆̔̐̽̑̈̍̉̚̚̚̕͘͜͜͝͠͝ͅÁ̶̧̧͚̟̠̱̦̠̥̯̯̥͚͚͉̼̹̼͈̙̬̗͖͈̖͕͈̭̣́̿̈́̄͑͜͝ͅ ̸̨̛͖͎̺͙̳̄͛̈̉̈́͒̄͗͂̽̒͌̂̑̈́͒͌̀͛̑̾̈́̃̒̔̎̈́̿̌̒̓͂̃͗͌̀̂̈́̂̌̕͜͝͝͝͝͝͝R̸̢̧̢̢̛̲̙̥̗̪̝̥͍͇̩͈͔͍̘̹̹͖̳̲̫̭̻̦͇͖̟̋̈́̈́͂̿̅̀̍̃̓͆ ̷̢̨̝̞̬͚͇͇͖̪̫̻̙͍̩̼͈̙̼̲̪̞̥̪̜̭̘̝͉̝͖̮̪̱̠͕̻̜̟̯̻̳͇͕͌̅͛͌̈́̒̒͜͜͠ͅͅE̵̢̛̺̣̰͓̤̤͓̥͇̠̰̬̹̯̗̹̘̬͙̺̗̱̘͉̞͙͓̤̳̽̓̅̒̑͋̈́̈̎́͂̆͂̑̽̓̌̑̔̒͊̊̓̃͊͂̿͛̂̒̿͂͋̿͛͊̕̕͘̚̕͜͝͝͠ ̶̡̧͎͎̪͉̪̮̘̼͙̺̦͎̼͙̰̰͕̘̞͉͉̫͉̠̯̜̘̝̣͓͕̰̰̯̙̾̾̍͗̇̒͗̌̋́͑͛́̈́̈́͗͌̑́̾̽̀̃̓͘͘͜͜͜͜͝͠͠͝Ṋ̷̈́̔̎̊̇̆̾͌̆̎̒̍̊̏͌̓̾́͛͋̊̀̆̊̆͘̕͝͝͠͠͝͠͠ ̶̢̨̛̱̩̺̖̝̮̮̞̰̭̝̯̫̠̬̤̦̼͔͚͔̣̬̦͎̼̞̞͌̀͋̓̈͊͊̀̄̅̓̾̎͆̕T̵̨̨̢̞̮̙̼̱̣̮͈̠͇̪̰͔̱͔͎̘͓̱̤̘̻͕͉̄̊̆̉͛͋͆̓͆̊̅̈́̒̊̄̀̃͝͠ͅͅ ̵̺͉̞͉͙͚͖̙͖̠̐́̓̀̿͋Ŝ̶̢̢̡̛̛͖͇͚͎͈̖̝̙̘̯̯̮̞̣̰̭͕̺͉̐̓̂̾͂͋̾̉̄̉͂̅̑͐͗͛̇̓̓̒̊̏̐̎̒̈̆̌̕͘͘͘͜͝͠-”

….

What?

The little carrot put their gloved finger into their ear-hole and twisted, blinking for another moment as the static around their eyes and the ringing went away.

Wow. That was. That was. Something.

Made their thoughts all runny. Like snot.

What did the gigantic…greener….ball say? It sounded like absolute gibberish.

It didn't seem like that the Watermelon was gonna repeat themselves either due to their expression…..

Hmmpf.

….

Karoto shrugged, looking around and rubbing the side of their head.

The big-....come on, better nickname- whatever, brushed off their weird long cloth thing around their belly.

“Geez, Kid. Guess I gotta apologize if ya didn't even know it was wrong.”

Not accepting that.

The baby carrot nodded softly, looking at the apples once again and completely ignoring the Watermelon as they tried jumping again.

They were still hungry. An apology wouldn't fix the emptiness of their stomach like a good old foodie!

Another huff came from their right, sounding weirdly calm this time as a hand reached out towards the apples, holding them-

And

And kneeling down to their level

To offer some APPLES TO THEM????

All the panic in their brain suddenly shot up to 100, because WHAT. WHY. HUH.

THEIR GIVING THEM FOOD? THEM? KAROTO? THE LITTLE GUY? HUH.

WHY WAS THE IDIOT SMILING???? WHAT-

“Alright, Just three. You gotta pay next time! And just so you know-”

While Karoto was surely having an exi...essistt…weird episode from all this confusing madness, the Watermelon suddenly showed something.

Something beautiful.

Something divine.

Something Karoto never saw before, letting their pupils go big and sparkly from the mere sight of such beauty before them.

“These are Golden Coins. Also referred to as Kromer. You pay with them, for example-”

A grunt escaped the fruit as they pointed at the apple, standing up properly and putting the golden delights that shone in the sun away.

Unconsciously, the little Carrot's hand went grabby grabby for it.

Shiiiinnnnyyyyy thinnnng-

“One apple means one coin. You got it?”

Karoto nearly forgot to nod at that explanation, yet quickly corrected themselves, brushing off their beutifully loose clothing.

Their smile was so bright that their cheeks were starting to seriously hurt while they nodded.

Who wouldn't at that moment?

It was also something that the Watermelon copied, letting out a hearty laugh and suddenly touching their hair in an almost kind gesture.

It was unnatural yet…

What's the word?

“HAH! You're like my little junior! Just that he didn't have those sparkly eyes!”

Oh?

Karoto stared at a nearby window, blinking at the reflection that was sometimes blinding depending on the sun shining on them or not.

Their eyes…were abnormal?

Sure, not everyone got weird white eyes who glow a different hundred colors in the light, but they wouldn't refer to them as sparkly-

Confidently blinding rather.

Yet that didn't stop the happiness inside their heart right now.

“But come on now, off with ya!”

A last push was given as the apples were left in their arms, filling them up completely and rolling their sleeves against their skin.

As the cold hit against their neck due to the apple skin, they quickly left without goodbye and that same unconscious, gigantic smile that the shopkeeper gave them.

Free apples… Free apples? Free FOOD was the great thing!

Nobody ever gave them anything without struggle and pain! This was something new, something so strangely kind that it was making their tiny stomach burst with excitement.

Maybe that means they wouldn't mind if they took some food for Free at night!!!! If they're actually that nice!

Stumbling around the people without any needed respect and back away from town, they quickly crossed the grass and trees.

Right up to their cave, taking a lot of care not to drop the precious apples by accident, giggling all the way.

What a great day!!

They got new, perfect clothes that were just barely holding together - They would fix that soon, promise. They'll learn. - and some free apples from a nice stranger!

A simple, good start to the day they could make even better due to their plans-!

Besides the rocky floor. That hurts. A lot.

Gotta do something about that-

But that's for later.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

Karoto's plan was at the darkest of times.

Where only the stars and Moon guided a person along, especially if the moon decided to be kind that day to shine a light on the village.

Where the cold was freezing their little body that never had enough food for warmth, even as they sparingly used their resources.

They ate the apples slowly, they promised! Not their fault their stomach was weak….

Curling up again, the little carrot had wanted to take one last nap before going on their small run, but the floor was making it hard.

Sharp rocks already increasing the pain, causing back issues despite their soft, new clothes-

The world truly was unfair.

Gggrrrrwww.

Their stomach agreed.

With a low sigh and ignoring the pain it was to stand up without wanting to, the little carrot forced themselves out into the freezing cold.

Shivers ranked through their entire body, wondering if all this was truly worth it in the end.

Maybe.

Their stomach could be filled if the Store person was nice enough.

Making it as quick as possible, Karoto slided down the hill, switching between running and sliding quite frequently and trying to ignore any mud or grass that stuck to them.

Didn't matter. Didn't matter at all when they were hellbent on getting some good food.

Food meant warmth in their stomach after all.

Karoto wanted to be warm.

Once the carrot reached the town, they smartened to quieten their steps down, tip-tapping around the rocks and houses to reach their destination.

The door was already in sight, the beautiful Shop that gave them food having a door to enter paradise!

And they turned-

Clink.

Uhm.

Clink, Clink.

Well. Uh.

One second, let them just-

CLINKCLINKCLINKCLINK.

Okay, so putting a foot on the door and rapidly shaking it doesn't work.

Karoto stared at the door rather dumbfounded, that precious smile falling from their face quite quickly.

“...Awe man.”

They mumbled out for once, taking a step back and brushing against their own neck without a true reason whatsoever.

It felt empty for some reason, but they shrugged it off to get some proper solutions for the situation at hand.

Hm…front door won't work. Can't breathe it. All the baskets outside are empty, which is mean. Very mean…maybe…

“...Ah!”

Karoto just had a fantastic idea.

Looking around for any witnesses and finding none, the little carrot quickly ran to the back of the shop, ignoring the backdoor and instead jumping on some barrels.

Backdoor is too easy! That's like trying to ask for extra oatmeal.

Instead, they used their new shielding gloves to an advantage and grabbed onto the usually sharp metal edge of the roof, scrambling and flinging their little legs-

Before quickly struggling up to the roof, letting out a restrained wheeze before slamming their head onto the roof.

HURGRH. STOMACH AGAINST EDGE NO GOOD WAAAA-

Luckily, they were spared once they stood up with a huff, putting their gloved hands on their knees and quickly spotting the target.

A simple and nice chimney.

Perfect entrance for them, especially for their small size!

Karoto made sure not to be too loud, jumping up to the Chimney before sliding down with the most care possible.

There didn't seem to be a fire underneath it….at least not right now.

Good.

Burning ain't always nice.

Karoto finally stepped down on the grOOOOOWWWTHATSHOTTHATSHOTCOALISHOT-

OWWWWWWWW-

The little carrot had to force down a horrid scream at the charcoal at their feet, only getting out small whimpers and silent protests while holding their foot.

Quickly blowing and patting the wound, it quickly went away, kicking off any leftover rocks with a whine.

Alright, with that out of the way-

Karoto finally got to the actual important part of this whole operation-!

THE F O O D.

Every shelf was filled with a bunch of different assortment of food, be it in cans, jellies, sugar stuff, protein, snacks, meat-

No matter what they would choose, it would be a pure delight in their sweet little stomach, filling it up to the brim.

And since their stomach likes to complain, having a lot of resources can be quite the happy occasion!

So, for a moment, Karoto treated this trip almost like a…m…the thing people look at when they wanna see ancient history.

Even though this is a 100% better more awesome really cool nourishing thing that couldn't ever be compared.

Much better than boring statues or whatever they store in there.

Their gloves slowly brushed over the many cans of reheatable food, taking a few soups and putting them one by one into their pocket.

Making sure not to stuff it too much, they were quickly starting to gather things from every aisle of the shop, snickering going through the entire room.

A few candies, some meat, really weird looking food, snacks, maybe even-

CRRK.

Wait. Their pock-

SNAP.

OH NO THEIR DEAR SWEET BARELY HELD TOGETHER POCKETS!!!!!

THE FOOD! THE FOOD ON THE FLOOR, NOOOOOOOO-

Karoto had never seen anything more devastating as a grimace came across their face, quickly scouting down to collect those poor treasures.

All while mumbling, nearly tearing up on instinct and looking around as if anyone would come down to scold them.

“Nononono, oh no, Please-”

At least their-

SNIP.

….

They're actually gonna start crying dear God.

Or…Dear Nantes?

Urgh.

Urghhhh that name is weird, who even is that guy? Why does everyone say that? Who's that random God figure. Or something. Why does one say-

URGRHRH WHO CARES, THE FOOD!!!! THE FOOD IS IMPORTANT-

Karoto tried frantically to pick up the pieces of this mess, sniffling all the way as those poor items they had kept were all over the floor.

Poor food. It was all alone.

They would make sure it wasn-

‘WWWWOOOF-!!! WOOF!!”

OH GOD ANIMALS AAAAAAAAA-

NOPE NOPE NOPE WILL NOT DO THIS TODAY NUH UH-

As if if the little carrot didn't have enough trouble already, now DOGS of all things decided to join the team of misery and despair-

And they could barely even pick up the items before scrambling up a shelf, kicking it over without a care, not caring either for the dogs whimpers and stupid noises.

Who cared what was in their arms, it was FOOD-

RUNNING RUNNING RUNNING BEFORE-

SLAM!

RUN RUN RUNDONTLETTHEMCATCHYOUORTHEYLLMAKEYOUSTARVE-

Breathe breathe just breathe and run you know where to go YOU KNOAAH-

THUMP.

….

The cold grass is what brought the thief to reality, which didn't help at all as they picked up their items again and ran for their life-

Or whatever was at cost at the moment.

Life actually wasn't something they cared about at the moment.

The Cave was close, it was closer, IT WAS THE CLOSIST-

[CAVE HAS BEEN REACHED!]

What.

What. They. You know what, not gonna question that, it doesn't matter, they're hungry.

Karoto kneeled down with a heavy breath, taking a second to calm down and drop the items they had collected.

“Phew…Went well.”

They muttered softly, brushing the sweat off their face, just being generally relieved that nothing had happened.

It's fine. It's fine the doggies appeared…they had food. Food they could eat.

Silently and with saliva starting to well up in their mouth, they went to check the contents of their overnight haul.

And.

Oh.

….Oh.

Karoto blinked.

Two cans of soup. One pack of snacks. And a can of something depicting an apple.

Two ripped pockets who were at fault for that.

Their Overnight haul….

WAS AN ABSOLUTE SUCCESS FOR A FIRST TIME!!!!

“Hah! Stupid dogs didn't know what was coming for them-”

The little carrot with a deep snicker, rubbing their hands together and taking one of the cold soup cans.

Grabbing the sharpest rock possible, they sat down and properly aimed, AND-

CRRGH!

-Made a clean hole in the soup can, taking a prideful soup and licking their lips at the taste.

God, It was heaven.

A heaven made of…

Karoto checked the label, taking a look at the contents and trying very hard to understand what was read there.

….

Yeah no, they're not getting it.

But it did have meat and potatoes on it!!!!

Something to fill their stomach in the everlasting cold of the cave, forcing them to retreat in the darkest and deepest corners to shield themselves away from the winds.

And the animals.

Disgusting animals stealing their food and attacking them.

Just for tonight though, they slept better, even with back pain.

For their hunger had been soothed.

Just for tonight.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

HUUURRGRRRRHH-

“Oneeee…HUFF…MOREEEE-”

HUUUUUUUURRRRRGHHHH-

APPARENTLY, DRAGGING A BROKEN MATTRESS AND A BLANKIE IS HARD WORK FOR A SMALL CARROT.

Can you truly blame them? It was already hard enough to find a small yet big enough mattress that wouldn't blast their cave to oblivion-

Butt NOOOOO, They had to have the stupid idea to literally GET MORE STUFF FOR THEIR CAVE URGH THEIR SO DUMB-

Do you know how weird it is to have dumb adults watch them drag a mattress three times their size up a hill? Without wanting to answer questions?

Like??? WHAT do you expect. What do you want from them.

Stop being mean. Why doesn't literally anyone help them carry the mattress or like. At least take the blankie.

The world is so cruel.

None..t..heeee…less. Nonetheless, the mattress was getting quite dirty, but it was nothing that Karoto cared about.

Just a few more tugs-

SHIFFFFF.

JUST SOME MORE-

SHIFFFFFFFFFF.

AND THERE WE GO HUFFF-

The little carrot let out a wheeze that could never be imagined as they leaned against the cave, coughing and hacking as if old.

Well. They're old enough to choose their own awesome cave accessories, so that's a certain plus.

Meaning, they can finally decorate! Decorate to their hearts content because that's their cave now and no one else's.

Maybe they should have made a sign to keep others out, but that's TOO attracting now, is it?

First things first though-

Blankie time for they have gotten two blankets that people have thrown away, mainly because they suck like-

You want to tell them that someone willingly threw away a NIGHT SKY BLANKIE????

ARE THEY INSANE?? THERE'S STARS ON IT. PURPLE. BLUES. LIGHTS. BEAUTIFUL LIGHTS.

Well, at least someone else's stupidity is their precious treasure, one they were going to use right at the entrance.

You see, animals like entering things that they seemingly can enter. Closing off that entrance could make them leave!

Also, the cold won't so easily get in, which also means weather stuff won't be able to affect their sweet home! More fires for them!

Especially if they won't go out.

Urrrrgrhrhrhrg.

Though, attaching the blanket would be a problem…if they weren't the smartest being to ever truly have lived on this earth!!!!

They're awesome. They were so cool actually that they brought duck tape.

That's…how it's spelled, yeah!

Doing their best to not stick it to themselves, they attached the blanket to the entrance, snickering all the while grabbing the mattress and dragging it in.

Beautiful darkness….!

 A heaven for the small carrot, adjusting in the darkness and throwing themselves on the laid out Mattress.

They had even gotten a really fluffy blanket alongside this, one they wrapped around their entire body and snuggled into.

Did they properly eat today?

Maybe, Moss and Fruits from outside fit their needs.

Did they want to take a nap in the warmth anyway and not be bothered for the entire day by admiring the softness, the comfiness, the sweetness-?

ABSOLUTELY.

….Hah.

It's so easy to lose consciousness when you're feeling a bit safe.

It's warm.

Karoto felt safe.

All that this little one truly needed to snore the day away.

Just this time.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

When Karoto hears sounds, they are usually uninterested.

Only if those sounds indicated danger did they truly care to check and run, to scream and holler, to take care and make sure they didn't get hurt-

But…

There were sounds today that caught their interest.

A weird person was sitting in town surrounded by some people, having had quite a few cheers from what they were doing.

….

What's so neat about those sounds?

Why do they sound so nice?

Those were thoughts that led to little Karoto pushing through the crowd out of interest, getting stupid complaints left and right that their…7…

Their 7, but when new…new years? Yeah, new years they're 8. That's how that works. Right?

Who cares, NOT THE POINT-!!!

That their 7 year old self didn't care about, seeing more cracks to look out too till they finally went to the front-

To see that weird sight before them.

A weird person that had their entire body as a shadow, beside those cowperson looking clothes, wearing a brown hat and holding a…

A? Thing? With strings?

Those strings seemed to be what was causing the pretty sounds, getting pretty doubloons and other kinds of money for the motions they did.

Huh.

Karoto didn't understand why making sounds made money.

We're they special sounds? They did sound pretty, but was that truly a reason to award someone with so much money in a bowl?

But they kept going. They kept making sounds and the people kept delivering them pretty kromer, sweet coins, delightful money-

The carrot realised that making pretty sounds seemed to be a good business.

As they looked around, they only found smiles from all sides, clapping and seeming quite happy to see such a delightful person making pretty noises.

This went on for hours and despite all this talk about the weirdness of it-

Karoto stayed.

They...listened.

Even as other people left, even as the children left, even as they were the only one left to listen-

Something kept them there.

Something different.

“Awe, kid. You're flattering me!”

Huh?

Karoto blinked those colorful eyes at the shadow person before them, looking up as they had finally stood up from that crouched position.

They flashed a smile not only with their lips, but also with sparkling eyes that seemed to hold a lot of determination.

“Didn't think you would stay that long, honestly. Two hours is a long time-”

Two hours?

They had stayed for two hours?

…

They didn't notice.

Yet the Shadow man flashed a smile they didn't even seem to notice, something In their eyes having a much different tone than most adults have.

Determined, striking-

As if there was a light that didn't care about being a shadow.

Kneeling down, they actually raised their hand and-

FLINCHED.

…

Karoto flinched on instinct.

The shadow person blinked for a moment, retracting it immediately and looking down at the stupid motion that their stupid brain had made up stupidly-

Stupid instincts, STUPID-

“...Hey, Kid. Wanna…try my guitar?”

…

What.

The little carrot forced their gaze up, seeing that instead of that high hand, a brown object had appeared in those gloved hands.

The same object that they had used earlier to make those sounds.

A…

A.

“Guit…Gittaur?”

“Guitar!”

“Gitar?”

“No, like- Gi-tar. There's a u in there.”

Karoto pointed at themselves confused.

“Not- Not a you! Just repeat after me. Guitar.”

“Gui…Guitar?”

The shadow person clapped at the successful pro…word speaking thing, a bright smile on their pitch black face once again.

“Yeah! That's the instrument I use to make music with!”

Music? Is that what those weird sounds were?

They did sound pretty and gave a hefty load of money, so…it can't be that bad!

Unless it is. That would suck.

…

Their gloved hands soon held the guitar in their hands, trying to position it just like the person had done before.

A finger there, a hand here, leaning in like this, trying to not fall over from the heaviness-

And then, they…they….

Plink.

Plink Plink Plink pliiiink plinkplinkplikink. 

Come on.

Plinkplinkplinkpliiiink-

Apparently, a pout on their stubborn face wasn't enough to change the sound of things.

Someone ruined the guitar's pretty noises!

IT WASN'T THEM-!!!

Despite the ruined noises however, the cow person still seemed to be having a smile on their face, embarrassing failures aside.

Slapping their leg, snickering to themselves yet not laughing at them for the sounds.

“Hah! Just like when I was a young little shadow…”

The Person snickered, slowly taking the guitar from their hands and putting it back in a weird, convenient bag that seemed To fit the guitar's shape.

Would that be a guitar-shaped bag or a bag-shaped guitar?

Karoto could only watch as they tilted their head, turning once and only looking back at the carrot in that moment-

“Well, I gotta skedaddle- I'll see you probably never!”

What a weird thing to say to a person.

Nothing that seemed to be important to the shadow person, as soon they were turning into a fading blob on the horizon.

Leaving the little carrot to stand there alone after having experienced such a miracle.

Such a weird…noise charade.

Music.

Music is made from things like guitars, apparently?

And it can give you money, attention, happy people and smiles?

….

Karoto decided they needed to learn the Guitar pronto.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

Karoto wasn't sure what exactly their plan had been to actually use it.

You see, finding a guitar was actually the easiest feat if you're a trash digger, if your not suddenly mesmerised by all the other weird noise makers-

Actually playing it just like the shadow person did was another thing entirely.

Especially with loose strings.

It's not their fault that everyone keeps throwing away BROKEN things!

That however, didn't stop them from trying their absolute best to play it properly, getting all the wrong noises out anyway.

Plink.

Plinkkk.

Plinplink.

It was a sea of disappointment.

Where's the magic? The sweet sounds that combine nicely? THE MONEY MAKER?

There's gotta be something to turn them into a majessstik Music maker full of riches and love!

Luckily, this terrible, terrible town had certain houses that actually served a use beside the local good market.

Sure, Karoto needed to force themselves up some boxes, stumbling along, hopefully not trip and die, coughing and wheezing and trying not to fall over-

A perfect spot was granted to them for their efforts though!

A perfect stack of boxes where they could sit down with a brown guitar with some loose strings, looking down from a small window into a room full of disgusting children.

Probably have been given so much by their Caretakers.

Probably were extra for this Music teacher.

Urgh. Urrrrrghhghhh disgusttttinggg-

Vomiting wouldn't help though! THEY CAN'T MAKE MUSIC WITH A VOMIT FILLED GUITAR-!

So, instead of grumbling and hating themselves, they watched while grumbling and hating themselves, keeping a firm hand on their guitar strings.

Words weren't very well spoken, but their ears caught the words they needed and the movement that brings them along-

Apparently brought by a local human this time, with wrinkled and red hair and a ponytail that's messily made.

Looked like one of those outfits they wear at the bad home!

Which means they look bad.

It's ugly.

They are saying that the person looks bad.

“Alright, kids…Remember from the last lesson, you need to adjust the tone knob to properly approach the sound you want the Guitar to have.”

The what.

Karoto stared at the person's hand movements and the children's too, before finally noting their own guitar's flaws.

One of them was broken, but the other ones seemed intact…so…

The carrot started to turn them the best they could, hoping it wouldn't sound like rapid fire shit.

Shit.

Ehehehhehehehe-

Swearing is fun, the old people all do it and the children too.

Focusing on the important things on the day, Karoto finished adjusting their beautiful Guitar and immediately looked back into the window.

Just taking in the sights while the students adjusted their own little noise maker.

It was a mostly brown and red room, papers of more noise maker positions on the wall, some weird black lines with dots, and…

Wait.

LETERS!!!!!!!

The baby vegetable would have smashed their head against the glass had they not wanted to avoid detection from the small ones.

Finally, the name of the noise makers!!!

It's….!!!!!

…

…….

Oh right they can't read.

FAILUUUUUUUUREEEEEE-

“Madam, I'm having trouble tuning the instrument properly-

Wait.

They-

“Ah, no worries, Charlot. Let me help you…”

Ins…in-stru-...mant!!!

Instrumant!

SUCCCCESSSS!!

Karoto couldn't help but grow a quick smirk, clenching their fist and bringing it close with a snicker as they held their INSTRUMANT close.

Apparently, the Human was too busy helping a corn for a moment that they could take another peek, watching the different kinds of veggies and Fruits seeming to tune their own instrumant.

So many different kinds of weird children.

Good that they're not one of those!!!

Soon enough though, the human went back to their spot, finally doing their job and not wasting their time on some low-tier brats.

“Alright, everyone. Now, just follow my lead as always. Don't forget to read your sheet music.”

The more the person talked, the more they're confusing them.

Shit music? Why is the music shit? And why do they say shit like sheep?

Nonetheless, Karoto tried to listen and repeat whatever was given to them, even with a singular missing string.

Plink…plink. plink-

Okay, so maybe their guitar ain't tuned correctly-

Plink. Plinnnk-

“Come on…”

Plink Plink plinkididplink.

This seemed much easier when the shadow person was doing it-!

And the stupid children were doing it even better than them! DISASTROUS.

Letting themselves grumble and complain and grumble some more was easy at least, just while they kept trying.

Maybe they should fix that string as well, it must be one of the core factors of the music sounding like one of their Caretakers voices-!

…They kept trying anyway.

“Just a bit faster now!”

Faster.

“Don't hesitate, it'll make it sound better.”

Better.

“Also don't drop your guitar. Now from the top-”

…..

They can do this.

They just needed a little more time.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

“What are you doing???”

That was the first question some stupid Kid asked them while they were drawing out plans on the ground.

Drawing the weird shit music, drawing clothing, drawing whatever they wanted into the dirt.

Which meant that they wanted to be left alone by the way, don't know if the kid noticed that.

If they did, they didn't respect the carrot, that's for sure.

Stupid questions get stupid answers.

“Stuff.”

“What stuff?”

“My stuff.”

“Yes, but what kind of stuff?”

“Stuff that doesn't interest you.”

The little child made of corn pouted.

Clearly, they didn't understand that some things simply didn't interest them whatsoever and that they should piss off.

That is shown perfectly by some other stupid fruit children arriving, specifically an apple and a pear.

Must be their companions, who are just as stupid and should go back to their Caretakers to sob and cry.

“Cha-Cha, what's up?”

“This carrot doesn't wanna tell me what they're doing!!!” The Corn complained selfishly, for they were the most selfish person ever.

Karoto only rolled their eyes, peacefully drawing the corn and then slicing a dirt line across the chest in an X motion, erasing it directly after.

The Pear seemed to be the next to approach the carrot that was unapproachable, looking over their shoulder.

As if it was their business on what they would be doing.

“Whatchu drawing?”

The carrot decided Muteness was bliss and drew another line.

“Hello?”

A line, a square. Some clothes.

“Are you perhaps deaf-?”

“Nooo, Sishi, else they would have responded to me!!!”

They drew some grass on top of the square, gave it some line legs and finally, the self portrait was complete.

It was beautiful, unlike the annoying apple that had started to speak again.

“I have an idea!”

The apple approached with clear malicious intent, coming before them and STEPPING ON THEIR FUCKING DRAWING????

THEY EVEN SNICKERED LIKE THE HORRIBLE PEOPLE THEY ARE.

“What are your labels?”

…

What.

That's what the apple disrupted their beautiful artwork for? A STUPID QUESTION???

No. No, they wouldn't get that.

They didn't even know what a label was.

Instead, they got a hefty glare and no noise whatsoever.

Usually, that gives the message for adults to go away, like the good people they should be.

Yet they kept trying anyway, as if there was a solution to any of this, as if the baby carrot would forgive such a horrible deed-!

“You…know? Your pronouns!”

Karoto didn't understand a word they were saying and didn't try to understand such a language, turning around to draw again.

Pronouns. What a dumb word.

Who needs pronouns?

The apple seemed to be confused, while the Corn pouted and the Pear tilted their head, speaking again with their stupid voice that sounded like an airhorn. 

“Pai, I don't think they wanna play with us.”

"Course I don't.”

Karoto muttered almost indirectly, getting a mean stare from the Corn that had been annoying them previously.

They don't even deserve a glare in the first place, they don't have a privalach for that.

Crossing their arms to seem big, they started to try and bring them down because kids are naturally mean and stupid and dumb.

“Well- Well, we don't wanna play with you anyway! You don't even give us your labels!”

Bold of you to assume I want to play with you, was something that surprisingly didn't leave the Carrot's mouth.

It probably would have hadn't they been exhausted from this talk already.

Karoto rolled their eyes as much as they physically could without getting a headache, drawing a guitar outline.

“Lavels sound stupid.”

“That's now how you say it though-”

“I don't know why people say your name.”

The apple gasped beautifully in horror and the carrot couldn't restrain the smirk on their face.

Brats getting their little lessons were sweet.

Even if the Pear tried to defend the apple once more, their bow full of insults was already strung with comebacks.

“Hey, don't say that to Pai! They didn't do anything to you-!”

“They stepped on my drawing. So yes, they did, Teardrop.”

“TEARDROP-???”

Oooohhh, that one seemed to hit a nerve. Keep it coming, KEEP IT COMING!!!

Karoto finally turned around with a hefty smirk for once, standing up with the same gigantic awesome stick that they used for drawing.

Of course, they started to smile like they always did.

“Yes, Teardrop. Why don't you go cry to your Caretakers alongside your friends Popcorn and Smash Tomatoes?”

All of them gasped as if it was a symphony made just for them, stepping back from the little carrot as if they were the pest.

Good.

Good for them to run.

The Apple even started to tear up, sniffling and suddenly starting to run away, quickly being followed by the others.

“I'M GONNA TELL MY- 

“YOUR SO MEAN-”

“CHA-CHA, PAI, WAAit-”

Sure, maybe Karoto didn't hear that last sentence, but who cared.

They were alone now without those annoying children that were nothing but trouble on their drawing endeavours.

Besides, if they can't handle the fact someone wants to be left alone, then what are they truly good for?

Nothing. Truly nothing.

Worthless.

Pathetic.

….

Karoto ignored the thoughts stirring more loudly in their head and decided that maybe someday, they would figure out what a pronoun is.

Sounds stupid.

Sounds useless.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

Today was for once a quite interesting day!

Karoto usually didn't care for the weird weird days the people put up around the year, for they were all weird.

Beside specific ones, like the ones with all the candy and costumes or the one with the hidden eggs or the one with the presents-

They were all fine-!

But today, everyone seemed to be celebrating a very specific day that would also ride their age by one number.

NEW YEARS.

A festivity that for the first time, they wouldn't experience indoors.

That just meant that they would get to see it in extra high re..resolution! Yeah! Where the stars would be hidden away by the hundred lights.

And let them tell you something.

Karoto's participating.

Apparently, some people left a hefty box of Fireworks behind with all kinds of colors, explosions and even sizes!

Currently, Karoto was sorting from smallest to biggest, keeping the most special in the middle and snickering all the way.

The cold didn't bother them for that one night, picking up the box full of delightful bombs - which wasn't that hard surprisingly - and running from their little cave.

They knew people would be on the streets and in that one Tavern, which they had been targeting for the day-

A little surprise would make them happy! Imagine the indoor colored lighting they would receive from a hefty amount of Firework explosions!

That meant that Karoto just needed to get up this houses parlour over roof, be careful too-

“Sweetie, careful-” 

“Awe, Honey, it's fine! Little guy won't be hurt!”

Karoto stopped.

And looked onto the streets to see the many people be focused on the fireworks they were setting up.

Smiling as brightly as the sun.

Laughing. Crying. Waiting for the countdown.

Together.

….

Karoto ignored the heavy lump in his stomach and kept jumping over to the tavern, still holding the box of fireworks.

…They'll have their own fun. Yeah-! They'll have fun all by themselves, especially with the lights.

They don't need a stupid adult.

They're all dumb.

Finally arriving, the little carrot stuffed every single bit of firework into the brick hole, making sure that the lines were out in the open.

Wouldn't be good if the lines to put the sweet fire on wouldn't be revealed, huh?

The laughing, drinking and storytelling was so loud from here, but that didn't stop the baby carrot from making their moves anymore.

Now, how does the little carrot produce fire?

Well, with a fire maker that a person threw away into the garbage, of course!

It was a beautiful golden color, having some kind of fluid in there and activating with a simple flick of the thumb.

A beautiful thing, truly.

Admiring it for a moment, rubbing over a label the carrot couldn't read anyway, they finally went over to the fireworks.

They adjusted their little clothing, flicking the thing on…

And…

Sshshhhhhhhhhh-

OOOHOHOHOOOHHTHISWILLBEGREAT-

Quickly, they skedaddled away from the sparkling, fancy lights, closing their eyes and deciding to let their ears do the work for them.

SWWIIIsssshhhh.  

Boom.

BOOOMPOWKKMADOOOSSG-

Huh, that's a lot of-

“OHMYGOD-”

“AAAAA-”

“WHAT IN THE FU-”

Karoto’s eyes snapped open when the beautiful boom and explosion sounds suddenly turned into screams.

That isn't how the usual reaction to Firework seemed to go, but-

…

THUMPthumpthumpthump-

People were running out of the Tavern in frantic screams, some frantically slapping away the flames on their clothes.

Some were crying.

Some seemed to be bleeding.

And

They were all so worried about each other as the smoke of the fireworks was starting to go up out of the smoke hole.

…

Far

Far away where the…other…town…? Was, with the giant Broccoli head, there were heavy lights in the sky and in the other towns there were also.

And even close by, just in this town.

The cries were nothing compared to the beautiful lights that were on the horizon.

For a moment.

Karoto wondered if they had done something horribly wrong to not care about the bleeding people and the concerned ones.

They didn't know them.

They could be very mean.

So why would there be doubt about what they were doing.

Why would there be

….

Karoto had run back at some point, perhaps getting seen once by someone who had yelled, but

The carrot just stared at the lights at the sky, an expression on their face that couldn't truly be described, not with words or mannerism.

They existed in this moment.

The lights were something else for once. Something else than the clouds and the endless blue. Then the endless dots in the sky.

Ringing in their ear.

….

They're 8 now, then. If that's correct.

One year older.

Okay.

That's something.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

Today, Karoto was hungry.

It has been…what did the locals call it? Spri- Sprint? Sprint. Spring. Spring! 

Yeah, after the whole Massacre that probably led to a few people being hurt and no one getting any serious injuries - May be good - flowers had started to grow around.

Gigantic trees with beutifu…Bautfiul? Great trees and their delicious fruit, flowers with many scents and colors, the valley full of wet grass-

It was basically a gift from God, if one could call it that.

But their not gonna pray to that one Dear guy, they probably didn't do anything, they didn't even exist for all they know-

Anyway, even though there was a steady food avalanche that had come for the little carrot, feeding their little stomach till it was somewhat full…

The little carrot wasn't actually that big of a fan of fruits.

And do not get them started on vegetables, those are disgusting.

Karoto didn't WANT to eat fruits all day, THEY SUCKED. THEIR COLD.

So, instead of doing that, they decided to actively go to town, run past the shop, run past any kind of shop that provides food-

And jump STRAIGHT into the trash can, because that is truly the experience that life gives you after a while.

Despite such a worrying sight, the little Carrot's smile was bright as ever as they dug through the mountains of trash, ripping apart the bags and being disappointed to find garbage.

Stupid smashed food, dumb crumbled bread, nothing of worth other than mold and more mold over mold.

They kept searching. Searching for Food. For sustenance.

They were so hungry they were spelling internally correct.

And-

AH!

Karoto's eyes bursted open at an empty bag that seemed to have been tightly knotted and safe into the trash can, quickly grabbing onto it.

Praying that the food lottery was with them, they pulled it out and then just tumbled down onto the ground with it.

“ o w-”

They muttered, laying on the ground for a moment…but sitting up soon after, still holding onto that bag, not calling it a success just now-

The contents of the bag were still unknown after all.

Hiding behind the trash can quickly as the townsfolk aren't the best people in the world, the little carrot started to undo the knot-

“...Please…”

They whispered out in an almost plead, opening the bag and-

F O O D.

THERE WAS DELICIOUS NOT ROTTING FOOD.

“YESSSssss…”

A snicker left their hungry throat as they pulled out the item, still crunchy and nice.

It was a sandwich filled with ham, mayo, cheese and salami, crusty white goodness that was on their hands and ready to eat.

Sure, there was a bit of mold at the end, but Karoro happily ripped that part of to chow down on the sweet flavors of the sandwich.

Yum Yum Yum-

The flavors were flowing.

The crunchy bite of the bread, the meaty flavor of hma and salami even if they were a bit dryer, the cheese mixing in well together, the flowy mayo-

It was heaven.

So, eating from the garbage it was, as Karoto found some smaller moldy and neat items to make for his lunch today.

There were some small chocolate balls with cake inside that were a bit harder but didn't seem to go bad-

There was some sort of juice, just tasting a bit sour and getting thrown back away right after, hitting the trash can and rolling away in sadness-

There was a sweet little custardy baked good that they only knew the name of due to the bakery nearby that kept throwing them out of their trashcan-

And some form of meat, having shoe consistency but still being a good meal.

Sure, maybe Karoto's stomach was starting to hurt from old products, but they'll take what they can get! It's fine!!!

Finally finishing up with their meal, they strutted back through town with a full stomach that was hurting, happy about their little travel.

A good hunt if they do say so themself!!!

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

Urrrrgrhrhrhrhrhhrhrurhrgrhhrhrhrffffuuuuuuck-

URRRRRERGGGGGHGHHHHHGHH-

ITS SO HOOOTTTTTTT ARRRRRRGHH-!!!!!

Karoto, as you have witnessed, does not enjoy the warmth of the sun as everyone else does.

They had already seen such weird, weird people who seem to be actively going into rivers, who seem to be holding glass against their face to make themselves ripper-

People are insane in a very true manner, they can tell you that much.

Luckily, the carrot was perfectly sane and was above all these individuals who were diving together into the sun like idiots.

Especially those dumbass children and their pathetic veggie squads.

They probably eat peas for breakfast. They probably enjoy eating such a small meal that doesn't nourish them.

But, going away from the unimportant things-

Karoto's perfect master plan included a gigantic waterfall spot that nobody but them knew about, which should be weird.

How did people not know about a large waterfall in the middle of the woods? Well, perhaps it wasn't exactly the waterfall's fault at that.

The critters seemed to be the bigger concern of the locals.

Hundreds of critters and insects and worms and all the like would come to this river, not to go inside it, but to drink from it…

People weren't a big fan of bugs, which Karoto didn't understand!

CRUNCH.

The carrot stepped on a particularly giant cockroach, picking it up, ripping it apart and taking a big, fat bite of it, deciding it doesn't taste that good and throwing it away so all the other bugs would eat it.

They were good nu…nutriiicchh…good healthy stuff makers.

So, Karoto threw of his gloves and clothes on a nearby log of wood, rubbed those scarred hands together and dunked themselves into the river.

SPLASH!!!

For a moment.

There was something comforting about the lack of noise in their ears.

It was nice.

It was calm.

It was-

SPLISH.

Temporary.

The little carrot couldn't help the goofy smile on their face when the cold water cooled off their heated up body, saving them from the sun.

The Sun was as mean as the people and the cold water was like a gun to that.

Or whatever a gun does.

They just knew the words from the shopkeeper who apparently had a shotgun, but they didn't truly know what that meant.

Whatever! They could splash in the water alllll by themself, with a bug palette at their disposable as the waterfall rushed down on them!

There was also an effort made to clean up any dirt that was left, as that easily piled up over the days without a proper cleaning protocol.

Not like it was needed.

Not like it was wanted.

Silently, they hummed a tune to themselves as they brushed off their hair, making sure that it wasn't infected or anything.

It was nice to have this peace and quiet honestly, especially now that they weren't boiling alive under the trees' cooling gaze and the sweet waters.

Only the leaves and the incoming breeze kept them company, letting them relax and take the time to really soak in everything.

Some local fish were there, but Karoto wouldn't truly call them company. These were the…not sentient kind.

Ew.

For a small amount of time, the little carrot closed their eyes, letting their thoughts drift into some other things while the waterfall rushed behind them.

…What were pronouns?

From all they know, it's those weird things that everyone used for other people. Like…wommmaaann…or…maaan.

Or he, she and it. And they. And whatever colorful combinations there seemed to be.

Seemed to be some polite bullcrap.

After all, they taught it in the weird Caretaker home or whatever that was, which must mean it wasn't truly necessary.

….He was an interesting term though. They'll just like…circle through. See what they like.

They didn't care either way.

…

Karoto opened their eyes again, staring around the grass and taking one particularly nasty bug, crushing it indirectly.

Taking a crunchy bite out for prontain - Yes, they probably spelled that correctly - Karoto slowly started to crawl out of the river.

They can't soak forever, not when they still had sleepy time and eating time before them.

Maybe they can lift a log and grill all the bugs underneath it, yet they didn't have a collecting bowl with them….

Eh.

They'll find a way in the heat.

They always do.

Just a snack will do.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

“Mmm- Stupid can…”

Karoto was on their daily food haul, having sneaked into that sweet shop owner's shop again to get some sweet food.

The Market was always refilling on its own, a true delight for their hungry little heart that could never be filled up.

Though, they questioned….

WHY DOES EVERYTHING NEED TO BE SO HIGH UP?????

THEIR STUBBY LITTLE LEGS WEREN’T MADE FOR THIS MADMAN CONTRAPTION.

Grumbling and scowling, hating and despising, the child tried to use all the might of the tippy toes to reach a big can of heatable soup on the top shelf.

The top shelf truly hated them, wasting their time on simplicities and forcing them to come up with new ways to solve them-

Like, for example, trying to find anything to stand on so they could get their delicious food.

Like.

More cans.

It was a genius plan if they said so themself, stacking the cans in multiple circles just so they would have the inch to finally reach heaven-!

Even if it was quite shaky. Like extremely shaky.

It's fine.

It's fineeee-

Don't fall. Don't fall Don't fall Don't fall it's there it's right there its RIGHT-

“YOU!”

Karoto fell not due to themself, but due to the sudden yell in their right ear, falling from the cans with a sudden yelp.

THUMP-

CLINGCLANGCRASH-!

And all the cans came with theOOOOOWWW-

STOP TOUCHING ME DONTPICKMEUPYOUJERK-

The Watermelon who had previously been so kind and awesome and cool had picked them up by their coat as if they were nothing.

Grabbing so hard, slapping his hands and head, even pulling in their hair as if THEY WEREN'T AWARE THAT IT HURT-

“You stupid Brat! You were the one stealing from my shop!”

The Fruit yelled at them in the middle of the night, grabbing their little body harshly and dragging them outside into the cold, cold night-

But- But the soup-!

“S…Soup-”

“Oh, NO. You do NOT get to play innocent after trying to be a thief!”

They were so angry. They were still slapping their lifting hands, still making tears float in their eyes as they failed for freedom and cried loudly-

They're hungry. THEY'RE HUNGRY!! THEIR STOMAHURRGH-

THUMP.

Getting thrown on the ground.

Hurt

It hurt a lot and they could only cry harder and sob because it wasn't fair and everything was terrible and THEY WANTED TO CRY-

“Go back to your P AÀAAA AA

The ringing

Was so loud to the point that the little carrot did not realise that they were running.

They

Reached the cave.

They were crying hard now and it wasn't because of the shopkeeper and being thrown out for some reason.

A mix of hunger came. Hunger for food, hunger for nutr…whatever.

But…

But

What was

The other hunger gnawing at them? Why did it hurt so much more?

Why couldn't they stop crying

Why couldn't they

Karoto fell asleep on the mattress, curled around the blanket as a saving grace.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

Some say that Spring was a warm season.

It was the start of flowers, the start of fresh fruit and so much more delights as he had explained before, giving them so, so much-

Ignoring that though, that didn't mean that the first month of spring wasn't quite the changer in temperatures.

Which meant despite all the talk about the beautiful warmth and light, there were still COLD DAYS.

DISGUSTING. SPRINGS A HORRIBLE LIE.

Karoto was not in the mood to challenge the mean Sun to a duel, especially since they didn't exactly have anything to fight the sun with.

They don't think the sticks will reach that high. Unfo- unlucky.

Stupid sun was up there, above the clouds!!! Really unfair in the Carrot's opinion, but what can they do about it?

The sun's covered up today anyway by the clouds, looking like it was gonna rain later in the day with the darkest flavor in the distance.

In all honesty?

Karoto wasn't entirely sure if their beautiful clothing was enough.

IT WAS PERFECT-!!! It was, but it wasn't made of thick material, so while it was warm and comfy on the occasion, having one more piece of clothing was…

More ideal, in that sense. Whatever that meant.

Cool Adult words apparently.

So, they decided to venture into the night again, because they could sleep at any time of the day anyway and recover however long they wanted!

Like clockwork, Karoto once again slid down the hill perfectly, as they were just that amazing and awesome and cool.

Which meant they didn't fall face first into the dirt due to a rock and then continue on with a quiet whine, what are you talking about.

Tippy tapping across the round as fast as possible, the little carrot reached the empty, looked up clothing store they had.

The sign was probably older than them, it looked old, the signs looked old, so an old person must be handling this little building.

As one knows, Old people are stupid and mean, so then using their little machines probably is completely deserved and understandable.

Breaking into their home through the vent was fine! It's fine. They're fine. They're good! Yeah.

It's fine.

The little carrot slipped through the vent quite easily, hanging onto its end for a moment and flailing with a worried pout and-

“A-”

THUMP.

-Fell onto the ground like a potato sack, staring at the ceiling with a sprawled body and wide rainbow pupils.

Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ouchie. Owwwwww-

Vents suck also actually.

One grumble later and Karoto was sitting, staring around the room that they had landed in and looking to see if he's right.

It…looked correct?

There sure was fabric. There sure was a lot of clothing and weird machines for clothing. There sure were some colors.

Did Karoto actually have any clue where to start, what to do with the fabric and if they could even do this at all?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Do they have the entire night to try and figure out what the hell they are doing?

YES. PROBABLY.

Standing up by jumping onto her line feet, she looked around the function, brushing over the machines and tilting that little carrot head towards them.

It is important to note that they also weren't exactly sure what they wanted.

They didn't think this through.

THAT'S ALSO FINE.

….Hm. They do have a small idea, mainly due to a certain emptiness that they felt towards their neck. Something that covers their neck….

Shouldn't there be like comics? There should be, one moment-

In a moments notice, Karoto scrambled through several boxes, ignoring pictures of toy ones, stupid sweaters, naked people-

Ew to that specific one, why would you want that?

….Okay, maybe they're hypocritical, but it was specifically humans, so-

STILL DISGUSTING.

Luckily, their previous disgust was taken by finding the magazine they wanted, sliding it out of the box and flipping it open.

They even sat down like the polite person they are. They are so polite. So mature. Everyone should clap and give them food.

Flipping through the pages and putting a thoughtful hand to their non-existent chin, they searched through the different fabrics, different designs of what could cover a neck…

Finding one specific thing that caught their eye.

Specifically, a Silk scarf.

Long, flowy, moderate size if you do it right, keeps one warm, probably something their small body can grow into-

PERFECT!!!

Karoto’s small little concentrated pout quickly turned into a big smile, kicking their feet and standing up to SMASH the comic onto the table.

That just meant they needed materials and a whole lot of effort! They could do both of that!!

And so, the journey to make a perfect scarf for the little carrot began through a lot of trial and error.

Like.

A lot.

A genuine lot, like holy shit why was making a scarf with no experience so hard they were STRUGGLING.

Starting this up was understanding how to properly cut, how to sew things, figuring out what cloth they truly liked, figuring out why the cloth might be good generally, if it's dirty, if it catches on fire and etcetera-!

It was so much work and Karoto nearly flinched away from the sewing machine THRICE.

Cutting fabrics was hard, sewing was hard, seemingly making weird contraption was somehow much more easy but not what he wanted-

Everytime they tried again, it felt like a flow was beginning to start.

Just a repeating notion as the little carrot tried to make something that they liked, something that would be warm, comfortably, nice-

Cutting, sewing, stitching, cutting, sewing, stitching, repeating and repeating until something changed.

Until anything changed.

Until the outcome was something they loved, something they could take home with a smile on their face.

Something people could appreciate looking at.

Something like….

Something like-

….

Karoto blinked at the product that had appeared in their hands and had almost been thrown away in the loop.

Where all the other attempts were all already stuffed together, weeks of now lost fabric piling up from a child trying to fulfill their dream.

They…had done something.

A scarf.

It wasn't perfect.

….

It wasn't…perfect. 

Maybe that's why they didn't throw it away. Because it didn't actually look that bad.

Was it because they made it themself? Because when they wrapped it around their neck, it actually felt warm and comfortable?

Even if it was a bit too long, seemingly flowing along their walk path? Was it just how they liked it?

….

Yeah.

Maybe, Maybe because it wasn't perfect is why they kept it.

Karoto couldn't help but smile to herself as it touched the scarf, brushing over the fabric and finding themself proud.

“Heh. Hehehehehh…”

Small chuckled left them as they watched the scarf trail behind them, scrambling up the vent again and being able to ignore the pain.

The little headed home with a smile on their face, a new acces- clothing piece and something they made entirely themselves.

Even if it wasn't perfect.

Because it didn't need to be.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

There was something people seemed to be calling a Ppppllllaaaii…playyyygrund. Pleygrond. 

A place where people can play on weird contraptions like slides, weird spinning circles, climbable objects and throw sand at each other's face.

On occasion, that's also the place where someone sells cold food, which they at first didn't even want to attempt to try-

But it was pretty hot, as spring was in full bloom with its warmth that was only to a certain extent comfortable.

Personally, the little carrot didn't actually mind the playing place.

It was good climbing exercise, people would on occasion not even mind them for the day and the sand was actually fun to model.

They just had to make sure their scarf was around their neck properly.

Their scarf is great.

It's a good scarf.

Karoto loves their scarf.

But, alas, today the Playing place was full, full of children who were loud and Caretakers who were chattering stupidly.

If the Playing place was full, it was always a horrible experience!!!

It was loud! It was horrible! All the kids took up the space! EVERYONE WAS TAKING UP ALL THE SPACE TALKING AND PLAYING AND-

Chatting. Laughing. Eating. Doing everything together.

Standing on the grass a few meters away from the playground watching everyone was….

It was.

Something that they couldn't describe.

Despite it all, their lips quivered. Their eyes squeezed together multiple times as something stung at them.

Their belly hurt. They were straining their muscles, clenching their gloved fist into their scarf and sniffling with anger.

The kids didn't like them anyway, so they shouldn't care!!! They were more awesome than any of them!!! SIMPLY BETTER!!!! 

They

They were okay with this

They were fine.

It's fine.

A harsh sniffle ran through them.

It's FINE.

Moments later, they were rapidly wiping their face behind a tree, not knowing why snot and tears ran down their face.

They didn't want to ruin their new scarf. They didn't. They couldn't.

It shouldn't be ruined.

Punching a tree hurt and banging one's head against it didn't help either.

Watching was somehow the most painful part.

Watching a child get picked up and held by a Caretaker.

Watching children play together and laugh.

Watching one cry and get comforted.

Watching, watching, watching all they couldn't understand.

THEY COULDN'T.

WHY COULDN'T THEY UNDERSTAND-?

Karoto left after thirty minutes of staring with a red face, already showing their face in their scarf.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

“And one and three and two and four-”

Parkouring was a sweet little distraction from everyday life.

Parkouring over rocks, over houses, over rivers, jumping from wood to log to leave and into the next bush, from puddle to the next-

It was a delight in this world.

That didn't exactly mean it wasn't dangerous, KAROTO DIDN'T SAY THAT-

SCRITCH.

“ARGH-...Ow.….”

Maybe, if they simply hadn't mentioned such a thing, they wouldn't have crashed into a rock and seriously got their knee to bleed.

Crying usually wasn't their thing! They had better things to do.

“....Oww-”

….It hurt though.

The little carrot cried anyway, as no one could judge them for the fact they were bleeding and also it hurt. Like a lot.

His eyes stung with tears, eyes already puffy by the minute as he stood up with a harsh sniffle, wincing and whimpering at the pain.

Not even brushing over the wound helped, as it just stung more and brought blood over her poor gloves.

So, brushing over their scarf was it instead, gripping onto it for comfort.

What do…people usually do when they're hurt? When they're bleeding?

….

Wait.

That one kid-

Karoto got an idea through all the tears, deciding that they're gonna walk the whole way crying, sniffling, leaking snot and constantly wiping their face.

There was a place full of weird boxes, pills and white walls in town, seemingly calling itself an…

P….ffff….

Not even gonna try, words are hard.

A place where they do very specific things that can heal you.

That's where the little crying veggie was heading because his knee hurt and also they deserved it and everything in the world.

Karoto went through a way that shouldn't be entered like always, which they weren't in the mood to be specific, because every way was making her knee hurt.

It would still bleed anyway.

With tears still running down their red cheeks, the choice to pick up as much medication as possible was a task that may be possible.

For later.

Currently, rummaging through the drawers was much, much preferred over everything else to look for those wrappers.

Wrappers? Those white, long fabrics that you wrap around your body and then it'll go away.

Wait-

THEY REMEMBERED!!!!

BANDAGES. BANDAGES WAS THE WORD.

They are so incredibly smart. They deserve a reward. Reward is not sobbing and getting rid of the pain. And a chocolate.

Scrambling through all the useless crap, they finally found them, grabbing the white delight with their gloves.

They slid over to the wall, bringing their back against it and wiping all the blurry tears away, pulling off the gloved with their teeth to-

Ow.

Ow.

Oww.

Owwwwwiieee.

Owowowowow-

-Pick off any dirt and scabs before applying the bandages, wrapping it around the bleeding spot, which also hurt.

A lot of things hurt Karoto.

It wasn't really fair.

Nothing was fair.

Karoto sniffled loudly, hoping that the fairness would feel sorry for them and would come back for it.

It deserved fair treatment.

Right?

It did.

She must.

He must be worthy of something.

They couldn't be nothing.

….

The little carrot got up and took off many towels to clean themself, deciding to search for a distraction before finally heading back to their cave.

Pocketing any type of medication, they looked over several labels, trying to figure out which part of the body they must be affecting.

Uhhh…

Lower region, check. Head, check. Stomach, check. Whatever that is, check. Those weird candies they give? Check.

A whole load was in Karoto's arsenal, something the shopkeeper could cry about later when they're awake again.

Currently, it's the baby Carrot's turn to cry while they open the door and head home with about a million pills and a wrapped leg.

Stumbling silently, they realised they didn't know what most of them did.

….

Eh.

It'll be fine

It's always fine.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

…..

Karoto.

Was awake.

Yes, they were awake.

Staring at the darkness that the blanket covering the entrance brought, glowing a bit purple now.

It was all there was.

In the corner, the leftover resources that were running out would soon need to be refilled.

The medicine was there.

Their stomach.

Hurt.

….

They wrapped their arms around their midsection and their scarf, hugging it like a sweet little plushie.

Something to stay with them and give pressure

Even if it didn't stop it all.

It hurt. Their waist hurts. Their stomach hurt.

But every limb of their body was cemented into the mattress, tied down and melting beneath the blanket they stole.

A bigger one. Bigger fabric. Softer fabric.

Perhaps they could be buried alive in it.

They needed to be.

…

They were hungry.

They were thirsty.

Not moving would hurt their body.

….

Karoto stared at the wall of rocks.

Stared at the blanket.

Stared at the resources.

…

Karoto.

Didn't move an inch.

It didn't matter in the end. Karoto could do it later. Karoto could just rot away some more.

What did it matter? The people in town didn't want to see them.

They could lay there and decay.

It would be fine.

No one would mind.

Karoto breathed, huffed, sighed out loud, bringing the blanket closer as they shivered

And

Laid there.

For it didn't matter.

It would never.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

“HEY, LET ME- HURGH- LET ME GO!!!”

“What a brat. This must be what the locals were talking about, huh?”

“Mhm. About a small thief constantly stealing everyone's stuff.”

THEY HATE THIS THEY HATE THISLETTHEMGOLETTHEMGO-

SHAKING DIDN'T DO ANYTHING, SCREAMING DIDN'T DO ANYTHING AND NOT EVEN SOBBING DID ANYTHING-!!

HRURRGH-

“Come on, let's just teach the kid a lesson before returning.”

“Oooh, FINALLY! I was getting restless.”

Why. Why. They didn't do anything. They never did anything. They stoke yes, but for a reason.

Dear God, Dear fucking God, they were innocent. They didn't want a lesson. They didn't want anything.

They just wanted it to stop hurting.

Karoto was already crying again-

Ow.

They…dropped them?

They dropped them despite everything, which might mean that they were okay now, rubbing their scarf-

CRRICK-

“AARGH-”

THEY- AH- KICKED-

“HURGH-”

I T H U R T-

THey- ThheyHHURRGH- Were Kicking them- so hard- forcing Tha-theirrr head down with those dumb wooden ends of their speaaARGH-

CRICKTHUMP.

H U R t s. I t hur ts.

The rin g ing is L o u d.

T hei r

Stomach H U RTS. HU R TS. S O MUCH.

A s ob for ced it's way t rough.

And

Their body hurt so much.

So so much.

….

The ringing didn’t stop when the pain lowered down into mere feelings, not adding more.

There were.

Voices.

So far away.

Far Far farer away until nothing way lext and they left them there and they didn't care and it hurt it hurt it hurt oh dear N

Dear God.

…..I.

A harsh sob left the little carrot, clutching his beaten stomach as his body shuddered and shook.

Blood was on the ground.

Their body was somehow having purple and blue spots.

They couldn't care about the snot anymore.

Or the way the clothing ripped again.

Or how they dirtied their whole body.

Or how it all hurt also in the brain.

Why. Why. Why.

Why did they hurt them? They were

They were surviving. Living. Thriving.

They hated them.

ThEY HATE THEM.

THEY HATE THEM THEY HATE THEM THEY HATETHEMTHEYHATETHEMTHEYFUCKINGHATETHEM

The sobbing and clenching and shuddering didn't stop.

Only a few minutes later was there nothing but a bloody spot left on the ground.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

Their.

“See? This is what you get you for destroying my toy!!!!”

“Mama said it was called karma….and I support cha-cha!”

Their.

Scarf.

Had been ripped in two.

And these kids were celebrating in the middle of town infront of the adults.

As if it was a feast. Not caring for what they destroy, blaming them for the fact that they got in their paths way.

It was just a stupid toy.

But this was THEIR scarf.

They made it.

They created.

“...Uhm…Cha-Cha-”

“What is it, Pai-?”

“They look very sad though…like their about to cry!”

Sadness.

Is that what was in this mix of emotions? Sadness?

It was somewhere mixed in there with the hundred other feelings, somewhere. Somewhere with the other disgust at those snotty children-

The despair at their handmade scarf being ripped apart.

The shock it could be. The shock that they did such thing.

But in the forefront, as their fists clenched and the tears rolled down their face in their daze, where ringing became normal-

“Oh- I…”

“Pai, Cha-Cha…Papa told me that one should apologize to crying children. Maybe they'll apologize back!”

“...Mmmpfh. Right, fine!!! But only because your Mama and Papa said so! And your my friend.”

Step. Step. Step. Boiling over each time and swaying the pot full of delicious meals that were waiting to be spilled.

They were reaching out their hand.

Waiting

For a handshake?

A

HANDSHAKE?

“Look. I'm…sorry…but you gotta apologize too, you meanie! You broke my toy.”

…..

“I'm juuuUURRGH-”

SLAM.

Karoto punched the corn in the face and for a few moments, finally realised that the last emotion missing was the boiling anger that was finally spilling over.

They

Ignored the screaming.

PUNCHING THEM IN THE FACE AGAIN, GRIPPING THEIR STEM, DIGGING THEIR GLOVES FINGERS INTO THE CORN-

WHITEHORT TEARS RAN DOWN THEIR FACE AS THE CHILD GRIPPED THEM AND GOD MAYBE THEY DESERVED IT-

DIDN’T MATTER.

IT DIDN’T M A T T E R!!!!!

IT'LL HURT ANYWAY.

Karoto.

Kept punching and screaming and yelling something they couldn't ever hear and they sobbed and the corn cried and

Adults were gripping at the carrot, pulling and pushing them away, keeping them down and

They

Breathed harshly, their lips silently quivering as they felt the blood leaking from their ripped lip.

From their broken nose.

From those pulled limbs, pushing the heavy hands away but no really.

They were so weak.

“----T IS WRONG WITH YOU ATTACKING-”

The big corn was screaming.

Yet the carrot didn't register anything in the static, ringing and smoke as they only pulled the ripped scarf back over to themself.

Their scarf.

Was still ripped.

It only made them cry harder, not caring for the pain in their small, small body which couldn't process these emotions properly.

It all.

Hurt.

They've been sobbing a whole lot lately, where it was all they could truly do. Because everyone was mean. Everyone was cruel. Everyone constantly hurt and yelled at them.

It wasn't fair. IT WASN'T!!!!

Wailing was the only solution that their weak mind could muster, standing up and running from their problems.

Ignoring the crying children.

Ignoring the heavy stares.

Ignoring the screaming person.

And just running, wanting to meet someone who wasn't as cruel as everyone else.

Wanting that sweet warmth of their blanket to be different.

…..

Karoto

Was still sobbing.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

Karoto wasn't feeling well.

It was night now. And their head hurt. Their body hurt. Yet everything felt so incredibly bleak.

Silent.

So silent.

A sniffle that came from all the sobbing escapes them, the cause of the headache that caused them to also curl up further in their blanket.

The little carrot somehow stitched that scarf back together. So, everything should be fine now. It should be okay.

But it wasn't.

How could they return to town now, with everyone's angry manners? They couldn't probably go in secret and make sure that no one saw them-

But what if they beat them up.

What if they call those metal people?

The little carrot curled up more with a heavy breath, trying to stop their red, puffy face from hurting after everything had happened.

Closing their eyes, they tried to just let themself sleep despite the weird gut feeling starting to raise again.

Their stomach had already hurt the entire time, but this one was so slightly different that it was slowly just making them say.

They didn't…want a hurtie stomach.

Hurts…

Despite a lack of hydration, Karoto's eyes welled up with tears yet again and they couldn't help but curse themself silently.

“Nonono…please-”

Nobody heard those whispers, nobody cared and they hated it, why couldn't anyone-

Crunch.

….

Oh

Oh no.

Karoto didn't dare breath as the sounds of footsteps were. Right in the cave.

But. The 

The blanket never

Moved so how did they get past the

The footsteps continued.

On.

Karoto didn't want to die.

Karoto didn't want to yelled at he didn't want to be hurt she didn't want to taken away they didn't want to be punished and

They

Seemed to move around, placing things down from the sounds of it.

Traps? Painful objects? Something worse? Cameras? Or

Crriikcckk.

….

Someone

Sat down on the edge of the bed and Karoto wondered if those sobs that they were letting out with those choked breaths were okay now.

The stranger

Despite all the flinches and shaking

Rubbed a gloved (The feeling was soft it was soft) hand over their side, never touching anything too strongly.

And the carrot begged

“Do-...Don't…h..Hurt…me…”

And the stranger responded, in a voice that somehow got their entire body to relax.

“Never.”

Strangely, the voice made them feel different too.

Why was the voice so

Kind

Strange

Close

Familiar? No. Not that.

Helpful

Soft

Considering

Warm

Caring

It made them feel better and they couldn't know why and somehow, they turned around with a hint of fear and

It was.

A carrot? A big one. A big carrot. A really big carrot like wow they never seen that big of a carrot before and with such a weird haircut.

Didn't the carrot go to a ..s..s….hair. hair cutter…?

The carrot wasn't looking at the small carrot, but there were a few things on the rock floor that made them want to cry.

But in a good way.

Water bottles. Food. A few strings for guitars. Some material. Some more red fabric.

Why

Why were they so

“I'm sorry. I'm really sorry about what happened. I wish I could prevent it.”

….

The voice was still giving Karoto weird feelings that they couldn’t describe.

But

When it stood up-

“Wait-!”

Whimpers left the little Carrot's mouth as they gripped onto the leg of the kind adult, only catching the glimpse-

Of the blurry fave they coupsnt fully perceive.

“Don’t. Don’t leave. Please…i-i….please…”

The little carrot begged with tears in their eyes, gripping harder onto the leg that felt like their own glove far too much.

There was no response. No response to their pleads

Until

“I wish I could.”

Karoto.

Karoto was.

Alone

With new supplies and a feeling of loss they could never describe.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

“-And the bad dragon was found by the night, who finally wanted to save the princess!”

Karoto somehow forced themself back into town.

They didn't know why- Not like they felt comfortable doing so persay, not in any way possible!

It already felt like everyone was watching them, being careful yet angry at the little creature who inv- infested the place.

Mean.

Mean people. He could say more but Mean sounded pathetic enough for them.

There was a singular reason they stayed though, for the fact they already had graciously received supplies for a few days.

Bless the person they can't even remember the look of. Or the voice. Or anything.

When they reached town, they had just planned to check the spot for that stupid Brat, but-

“The Knight, raising their sword, started to fight the dragon for justice to be made!”

There was a person, dressed in weird clothing full of weird colors that was telling stories about something called a hero. Something called knights.

The knights weren't all that great to them, especially due to the fact that they looked like the local Tincans.

But the cardboard was surprisingly made with effort, also showing something called a dragon. A gigantic beast with wings and red skin!

Honestly, it was captivating to watxh these stories unfold, even if the other children avoided him.

Lucky carrot, they had more space to hold their sweet soft scarf and listen to the story of the old man comfortably.

That's also something they heard about actually, adding to their already weird knowledge.

Man, woman, Person, Fluid, Binary-

Weird terms to describe a person, but these things seemed to refer specifically to something called ‘genders’ as they now know.

Whatever that is. Didn't truly matter to them.

All that mattered was watching where the story lead, pulling their little legs closer and rocking back and forth while holding their scarf.

The old person pointed to the dragon, letting it fall flat to show a person with a dress, a purple one at that.

“As the Dragon was defeated, the Princess and Knight went on to live a happy life forever and ever.”

They seemed to be imitating a motion, ramming their faces into each other as if that's something that's truly comfy.

Karoto could only grimace at the weird, weird gesture, sticking out his tongue.

Who would want to touch another person mouth with their own mouth?

Despite that, the story was quite interesting and for once, the other kids didn't seem all that unreasonably annoying about it.

No, they were asking questions that the carrot could only listen to.

“Does the Knight love Love the princess?”

“WHAT ABOUT THE DRAGON?”

“Did the Knight eat the dragon for a festival feast?”

The little carrot didn't quite understand a these questions and why they would be asked, but listening was nice.

So…Heroes got all the recognition and love and food, huh? And the people they saved rewarded them with….stuff?

Hm.

Couldn't one just take it though? Take it and leave? Who's stopping them from killing the dragon and leaving without the princess?

Dragons also were said to hold treasures for their own gain- why not take those instead? What's a meekly person gonna do to help the Knight?

They needed to save them after all.

…..

Whatever.

Karoto could only huff at these made-up stories that made no sense to them, yet could be of use just incase….

After all.

A few lies and deceptions for the people to hear wasn't the worst thing, was it?

It's just like the Fairytales everyone told.

Just with a little bit more…Lying.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

For your information, Karoto didn't want to always wear the same clothing piece every single day.

No!!! That would be ABSURD!

Of course, they changed it up by re-knitting it to make it bigger and better and patching it up when It didn't fit properly, he wasn't a dunce.

Call him that and they will absolutely strangle your sweet neck.

It was almost like a fashion show when they finally found a broken mirror piece, trying on different clothes anyway even fi they never changed their clothing.

Theirs were perfect, thank you very much.

That didn't mean though that they couldn't admire their small form ins different clothing pieces that were also ways a bit too big for them.

A collection formed, even if it was always thrown away.

The carrot today wore…

A biker jacket as the Adult Sewing person called it, shining in black and having way too long sleeves.

A dress in purple, making them touch it's slick yet prickly fabric and wonder why it was even existing in the first place for how long it was.

A puffy princess outfit, which Karoto felt the need to burn somewhere.

Maybe, there were even weird combos.

High heels with a long shirt, a scarf with a full-body suit, a ninja thing with some ballet shoes, a belt filled with different veggies-

Only one outfit seemed to catch their eye for a singular moment.

A long, ripped apart coat in brown, having sharper edges but seeming comfortable.

…

Nonetheless, they threw it back in the garbage.

It wasn't that important.

They happily cuddled with the scarf they've been improving from day one, having less rips and mistakes by the day!!!

It was a beautiful creation, one that even surpassed the outfit they kept having to expand.

The scarf was big enough to grow into.

Something…that Karoto was genuinely happy about.

Forever and always.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

“....It'll will be alright…”

There was something about music that kept bringing the little carrot back to learning it.

Even with different instruments.

One would think that making many different sounds was a weird thing and wouldn't bring a single good thing in the world but-

“...I'll tell you that with my heart…”

It had…become a comfort.

There was a broken guitar they fixed up but probably aren't gonna keep due to the… tuunnninggg getting messed up from the damage.

Yeah, that's the word.

When not all the strings are properly put together, it sounds just as bad as a screaming child.

And screaming children are HORRIBLE. URGRH. EW.

That means however, if you do it right and actually know what you're doing like this little smart guy here…

“…I can't deny, I've been worried all night…”

It'll sound actually good. It can mean something. It can sound like something good.

Music is something that Karoto can express themself through despite everything, for it speaks every emotion they can't express.

They even tried cymbals, Piano and more instruments they liked during that weird Caretaker's lessons!!

Still outside the window, THEY'RE NOT INSANE.

There was a strange comfort however to hear all the other children play their instrument during the day, getting them to settle more comfortably against a box.

To listen to those attempts to make art. To give them a minute to take a breath and make sure they were doing it right themself.

Truly, a bea-

“HEY, don't lick on the sticks for the drums! That's disgusting!

…

Kids are weird.

Did get a chuckle out of Karoto, though.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

Did anyone ever tell you that caves weren't exactly comfortable?

Yeah. CAUSE THEY AIN'T.

EVEN WORSE WHEN YOUR BODY REFUSES TO SLEEP ON A COMFY MATTRESS AAAAAAA-

WAAAA LET THEM SLEEP ITS UNFAAAIIRR-

Getting all fussy was all but fair when your body refused to get comfortable under the sheets, even though it yawned and got eepy.

Grumbling all the way, the little carrot curled up as best as they could, wanting to harbor the warmth from the warm weather.

….

All these days passing by made them wonder if there was a sort of timeflow. Wasn't there something like months along with seasons?

Whatever.

WHATEEEVERRRR HUUURRGRHH-

Cuddling close to their scarf, they hugged it tight and snuggled close to it, searching for their comfort object in their need of help and despair.

They were so helpless. And sad. Help them.

A sniffle left their nose however, tears already stinging their eyes along with the sadness that simply couldn't be regulated.

“I…jus’ wanna sleep…”

The small mutter was all they could muster up, whimpering but deciding to try and let sleep nag at them more.

Maybe that'll work.

Maybe that'll help.

….

They hope.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

That tie is too bleak.

That person is too loud.

Interesting ball, but they didn't want it.

A pretty dress, seems long too…

Ah, you nearly interrupted them during their most casual work in the next Alleyway!

People watching, a simple activity they did rather rarely when they didn't have anything better to do for the day and were actually properly supplied with food.

It was rather nice, if you could believe that. Something that their white-reflective eyes were kept busy with.

Can't blame him, Everything else besides their interest was so BOOOORRRINGGG-

Anyway, that Watermelon shop guy is a pest with his stupid child and his stupid life and his stupid glare that he didn't have before, just because they kept stealing.

They had reasons!!! MANY REASONS!!! But NOOOOO, apparently they're not worth listening to!!!! Mean!! M E A N.

Those stupid children were playing together too, as if they didn't ruin the little Carrot's reputation more than it already was.

Pathetic. At least the cob still had those wounds, for they were deserved.

Crossing their tiny arms and leaning against a wall, small grumbles left them as their piercing eyes scanned the repetitive crowd.

A rather small town, full of small people that they saw every single day at least once…if they were to leave their cave.

The reactions were the same.

But who cared? They had all night to steal everything they needed from all of them!

They wouldn't even notice a singular thing! HAHA!!

…

Still.

Something nagged at them at the little details this town had to offer other than rare graffiti, sticks in the ground and the casual conversations.

How the children could hug their Caretakers.

How the Watermelon patted his child.

How adult friends laughed together.

How the Baker and the Clothing maker shared bread and cloth with each other.

Those little things that seemed to show that they knew one another, that they trusted them enough to let them close.

Something tugged in their stomach.

Growing, investing, grasping at crumbs that they couldn't even dare to understand.

….

Was a carrot of mere 8 years old meant to understand such things?

Maybe.

….

That Guy with the hat looks stupid. Who decides to put on such a large Top Hat and get away with it?

For the rest of the day, Karoro decided to use all that emptiness to throw rocks at the people they didn't like.

Only at the fifth were people complaining at each other.

And the little carrot felt a bit better with every curse word.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

Karoto wasn't one for winter.

Winter was COLD. 

Yeah, okay, that was like, the main part that sucked.

The snow was alright, the sweet sticks provided flame for the fire in their perfect awesome super duper cave, the animals went away-

Downsides are, literally every single food that grows on trees ABANDONED THEM.

LIKE EVERYONE. PIECES OF SHIT.

That one apparently meant in some houses that they needed to put a penny somewhere, which made them happy that they didn't get one.

That music place is pretty weird now that Karoto through about it-

BUT CONVERSATION TOPICS ASIDE-!

There was a singular thing that peeked the little Carrot's interest from the very beginning, even before when they were in thatttt….

Orrrrrfaaanech.

Yeah, they are not even gonna try pronouncing that.

An activity done with a flat object that you need to drag up a mountain full of snow, just so you can slide down from it at top speed!

Usually, Karoto had better things to do than indulge in such things.

But then Karoto is temporarily reminded that it's the same person that put a hundred insects into someone's home after they slapped them.

So, picking up the largest Tree Skin they could find by breaking open trees and skinning them, they started to drag the piece along for fun.

If Fun meant absolutely wheezing and huffing by pulling something 10 times your weight.

“HUUUUUFFFF- UUURRRRRGHHH- HAAAAAAARRRGHHH- COOOMMEEE ONNNNN, YOU STUPID BROWN….T H I N G-!!!!”

THEY WERE ABOUT TO CARE FOR CHILDREN STARES.

Who cared if the other kids were starting to back away or give them weird stares for their past actions? IT HAPPENS!!!! 

It just meant they were the strongest in the yard! Strongest anywhere even! STRONGEST EVER DONE!!!!

That's exactly why they were able to reach the top with their awesome piece of wood, about to barrel down the hill and hit the local children.

The local Children deserved it in their opinion.

“Alrighhttt-! LET'S GOOOOOOO-”

Quickly pushing it with all their might, they jumped on top of the piece of wood, watching its slow progression down the hill.

For a moment, they doubted the power of this giant piece of wood.

It's just wood, how woOOOOAAHAHAHAHAAAAAOOOOWWW-

SSSWWWWIIISSSSH-

TAKING BACK EVERYTHING THEY EVER SAID THISISTHECOOLESTTHINGEVERPERCEIVEDWWWWOOOOHOOOOOOOO-

IT WAS FAST, IT WAS AWESOME, THEY WERE NOT HITTING ROCKS, IT WAS FINE AND WOW WERE THEY FAST-

The wind through their strands and clothing, the cold breeze freezing their gloved fingers, the speed they were going…everything was…

Amazing.

Truly ama-

THUNK-

WAAAA

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

THUMP.

THUNK!!!

…..

Reminder to themselves.

Sliding down at a hundred miles per hour against a giant lock, causing you to catapult right into a pile of snow isn't the greatest thing ever.

Especially if the entire wood piece you were riding breaks into a billion Little pieces.

Welp.

At least it was fun!!!!

Didn't say Karoto, as their entire mouth was pushed into the wet snow.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

Apparently, never drying their clothes has consequences after being shoved into the snow.

They felt soo…dizzy. Drowsy. Like they could barely move from the cold despite shoving themselves under more blankets than necessary.

Or maybe…it's…necessary???

Hard to think…and breathe.

Nothing more than shallow breaths were made as the fire was trying its best, actually much bigger than the usual forecast due to their efforts.

Yessss…ggggoooo fireeeee, warm em upppp….

Shivering and flinching was also a daily and the whole blanket situation was…interesting?

When did they make the small pillow and blanket castle?

Did they- yes, they. They took those weird medizin for their symptoms. They did. Probably. Yes.

Why else would the pill thingies be open? Wouldn't- Wouldn't make sense.

A harsh cough left their throat, their head still hurting as they curled more around their scarf and the warm pillows.

Lucky them, the snow and wind could barely get in due to how tightly they shut the entrance with the blanket, letting it become cosily warm.

Probably.

The only reason it's somewhat open is to keep the flame alive. And them. They needed air too. Yeah. Of course.

Hrurg.

How they didn't vomit yet is beyond them.

…

Oh!!! Besides all the extra stolen blankets…they remember!!!! They stole extra special products from the weird special market down there!!!

It was slightly easier to think without the pain and the dizziness getting- still needed to nap a bunch to make any progress.

And eat all the winter stuff they kept, BUTTT-

With a stick, they actually made something that they watched others do in the forest once!!!!

You take one stick.

You put a…march…Marchmallow on it. You grab some crackers. You also grab chocolate. You wait for marchie to melt-

And then!!! And THEN????

YOU GET A YUMMY SWEET SANDWICH!!! SOMETHING THEY COULD EAT, YUM YUM!!!

The taste was perfect. Yummy. Food.

They also made a cup of melted chocolate, as people were holding it together with…their…

…..

Karoto saw other people around for the season.

They said something about holidays. About presents. About family. About wanting to make another person happy.

About love, about food, about creation, about effort, about fffff….that word.

A holiday where all that exists.

It sounds like new years. New years are special because they get to grow one number. 

….It's like that one scary day. Or the other one with all the eggs. Are they that special too? Why are they special? How could they be special?

……

Maybe.

Just maybe.

Through the sickness, the cold, the many blankets, the wind outside, the fire and all the misery that was combined in these products-

Karoto wanted all this.

/               \

[>◇~◇~◇<]

\               /

Today, at the age of 10, something was overheard.

In autumn, where the leaves began to be crusty again, where the years passed by all the same, with the same abuse, with the same annoyingly repetitive scheme-

Truly, did the Universe just like making a horrible Scene?

Must not know Theater! Karoto is great at it, you must know!!

While those thoughts did bring a smirk that he started to get used to for their own good, that wasn't quite what piqued his interest.

No.

It was something the carrot overheard while stuffing their hands into their pockets, looking around a lonely baby in a wagon.

They had candy! That small little tomato had a giant lollipop, of course they were gonna steal it!

Everyone expected them to at this point, so there was no point changing it.

Absolutely none! Hm!

The baby looked up at the evil veggie above them, eyes open wide with wonder as they held their little rainbow lollipop-

Snatch.

Before that sweet little treat that belonged to him now was taken away, causing that little face scrunch up with teary eyes.

Karoto shrugged off the sad display, quickly strutting off into a safer place where a baby wouldn't ruin their day.

And-

“WAAAAAAAAA-”

Geez, quiet down. Not that big of a deal! Stupid little soup ingredient-

“Oh, haven't you heard? There's a festival soon in the Broccoli kingdom!”

“Finally-! I thought the King wouldn't let us have any fun!!”

Karoto slowly turned.

Licking the Lollipop was suddenly not the most interesting thing anymore, even though it was black soda-flavored.

The baby's crying nearly ruined the conversation, but following the two fruits along seemed to be a solution at this point.

Sneaky, slippy, slithering carrot Karoto was on the case of what was happening, whether they wanted to or not!

With that same smirk returning with interest, they listened as closely as possible while rubbing their scarf.

“Heard its pretty famous, coming on every year…gigantic too!”

“I heard!!! There's supposed to be a ferris wheel, roller coasters and more!!”

What?

What's a roller coaster?

More importantly, what's a ferris wheel-????

Also, what is a festival? Well, okay, They know the CONCEPT of a festival with the amount of holidays back in town, so is it like a BIGGER holiday-

“Honestly, I'm afraid to take the train there…wasn’t it just recently under repairs due to the Onion stuff?”

“It's actually fixed now! So we can take the train there. And-”

They pulled out something adorned with gold, seeming rather solid and spelling some letters that they would never understand.

Kinda looked like…a card? What kind of card? Like-

“I've got a year's card! So we can go whenever we want!!!”

“OH HELL YEAH! You're the best, Arrow-!”

“I told you not to call me thaaaatt-!!!”

….

A what? A what? HUH???

Karoto understood half of those words and another half was left to debate with what little info was given.

What's a….train? Tran? Trans? No, the first one seemed correct at least-

If it’s supposed to lead to another place, it should be something like a trannnsportattionnn method, right?

He didn't know??? Literally???

But what he did know was that the sound of something like a Kingdom sounded large, at least from what they were describing-

Something…different.

Open. Free. Big.

Something you could explore. Something that isn't without change. Something new.

Something new was something that Karoto wanted.

Quietly, the hand that he didn't notice was on his chin way lowered back to their side, lollipop absently flicked around.

Licking their lips, they took note of where the two went, following along with everyone else like they always have.

It would be easier if the Alleyways weren't so goddamn short-

Note.

Find bigger Alleyways in that kingdom if they go there.

Soon enough though, while the carrot was busy showing his tongue to the local rats, that they spotted something quite…interesting.

Something they have seen before, but not in motion.

Not like this, no.

Having reached a rather big building that the two entered, Karoto and followed just to see something that they described.

A vehicle.

A GIGANTIC Vehicle that was pumping smoke out of a pipe, letting a hundred people enter its doors and more.

Some people were at a weird person to get their tickets, another few were buying something, some were waiting, some were chatting and-

The carrot hadn't noticed that it's mouth was wide open, shock never registering when it was needed.

Like.

What.

How.

HOW WERE THEY SUPPOSED TO REACT TO THAT PROPERLY????

It was like a Gateway to heaven, being able to bring them somewhere else where they could finally find a change in their life!

Though.

Apparently, change meant money with what they were witnessing at the ticket place.

Giving money to get the ticket, having to talk to that local person, having to actually hold a conversation, having to not STEAL IT?

Yeah, no.

“I could just…maybe…?”

Karoto mumbled to himself, making a mental map with his fingers while rambling like a mad carrot, pushing them together and even making a line.

“A little jump there, I could sit thereeeee, speed up over on that platform-”

Muttering and whispering, the young carrot made a plan that may not work for a long, long time due to all the parkour and practice necessary.

It was hard.

To jump on a moving vehicle while it was speeding up was a TASK, but…

Watching it make it's pretty sounds, letting it leave on its own with all the passengers to a land that they couldn't even describe or comprehend or-

It was something that Karoto truly wanted.

And hey. They weren't one to give up easily, not in all the years they lived in this town.

We're they rather small and fragile? Maybe. We're they scared? Absolutely. We're they young? ….Probably, yes.

Karoto wanted this though.

That meant effort.

Smirking all the while, they nodded to themselves as they made their first ever run towards the train.

They were willing to put on that last effort for as long as necessary.

/                   \

       [ • ]

\                   /

“UUURRRGHHH, WHHHHYYYYYY DID WIZZRO DO THIS????”

“Awe, come on, Karoto! It's not that bad!”

Karoto was surely questioning his life choices every time they needed to get a specifically nasty delivery for Wizzro.

Like??? FROG LEG? MUSHROOMS? MUD BALLS???

Look, he didn't mind a bit of dirt with all the History he had, but DEAR NANTES - Saying that made his stomach lurch, probably the Groceries - THESE THINGS WERE HEAVY.

For once, Karoto was happy to step into the full bus to collapse into the next seat, huffing and wheezing as if there was no tomorrow.

Community work is hell and you can't convince him otherwise.

Plop.

….Okay, maybe someone can convince him otherwise.

“Alright, this should be a 30 minute drive! I don't usually go this deep into the forest.”

The carrot hummed in response, properly leaning back and dragging his arm around Nabiu's seat, settling the bag of findings between his legs.

Looking outside, he made a hum of acknowledgement.

“Oh?”

Nabiu, who he glanced at on occasion, nodded excitedly and pulled out her book, recording her findings as usual and humming all along.

“Yeah! Exploring truly is Amazing!!!”

Sure, let's go with that.

The wheels on the bus went round and round, all the time along, making the bus shake slightly with the movement, letting Karoto feel and listen to the rumbles while settling his head against the bus window.

It was a pleasant sensation in the everlasting silence that was the bus ride, repeating scenery becoming quite a comforting sight.

The sun was already going to sleep too.

“Did you explore around the village often, Karo?”

Nabiu truly was an expert at catching the carrot off-guard, silently getting him to get off the window and turn to the small blueberry instead.

Despite his want to just completely stay radio silent and not communicate, a nod was instead received out for kindness or whatever.

Disgusting. Or…well. No. Well. Yes? Whatever.

“Always! You won't believe how much stuff you find if you search for it!”

Smiling was as natural as making music, which wasn't always that easy and honestly, if he wasn't up for it, he would just not do it out of motivation. 

But just for the M.A.G.E, the Wildcard would keep it up just a bit longer.

Not like it was exactly a lie, he did find the waterfall that way!

“Yah, of course! Did the townspeople help you?”

Oh, piece of-

Honestly, Karoto should have expected a response like this from a curious and good hearted child like her.

Didn't make gripping his scarf out of instinct any less obvious.

“...Not exactly.”

Nabiu wasn't dumb either though.

This was evident with the way her smile fell, how she averted her eyes for a second out of awkwardness and silent guilt.

“Ah.”

….

Alright, she didn't deserve to feel upset over this.

The smile returned as quickly as possible, smirk easily coming as the other arm rested on the window and waved the issue off.

“Hey, not your fault. They were just like that most of the time!”

Not a lie either.

The carrot only huffed, leaving the little blueberry to ponder with a hand on her chin.

“Hm….Well- OHMYNANTESLOOK!!!”

That same calm expression suddenly turned into heavy wonder, slamming her face into the glass and landing on his lap, causing him to yelp and nearly fall over-

DONTLETTHEGROCERIESFALL-

“H U H?”

Was all the Carrot could muster up in his surprise, looking out the window to hopefully not be attacked by some monster. AGAIN.

But Nabiu only pointed at-

“TUNNEL!!!! I LOVE TUNNEL SECTIONS!!”

Oh.

Just a tunnel.

Karoto blinked ahead, noticing the incoming darkness with relative calmness as relaxation took over his body.

It was just a small amount of darkness and the…walls…were…outside the bus? Does that make sense?

Oh, well. If it prevents his Claustrophobia, what nonsense logic isn't useful?

Silently, Karoto closed his eyes, letting the excited blueberry take the lead as the red on his closed eyelids turned black-

And…

SWWWWWWOOOOOOSSSSSHHH-

Karoto felt the heavy wind brush through their entire body, taking a heavy gasp as they escaped the tunnel.

They were ON TOP OF A TRAIN, WHOOPDEDOO AND THAT AT THE AGE OF 11!!!!

HAH!! SCREW THIS ENTIRE VILLAGE, THEY'LL GO GET INFINITE CHOCOLATE!!!

A hearty laugh escaped their body as they pointed backwards, giving a magical fifth finger before retracting it.

THEY DID IT!!! THEY DID IT!!!

THEY-

….

Oh.

The little carrot hadn't noticed the sunset.

Gripping onto the handle on top of the train, they let everything fly past them as the wind was nothing more than a noise in their ear.

The sky was filled with a pleasant orange, filling his entire vision as the mountains and trees were all in a pleasant back from the sun going down.

…..

He was free.

Karoto was breathing.

Alive.