Chapter Text
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Ten sat under the tree, sheltered from the hot sun.
Suddenly, he heard screaming — not pained, just angry screaming. He looked around and saw One yelling at Five, who looked extremely annoyed.
“FIVE, I TOLD YOU TO STOP!” One shouted.
Five, looking absolutely done, snapped back, “Stop WHAT? Me and Three were just playing! Three got hit in the head by accident. It’s not my fault. Honestly, you should cool it, geez.”
One looked flabbergasted. Then her expression twisted into pure anger. She lunged at Five — but Five was quicker and stepped aside, sending One crashing into the grass.
Ten ran between them as fast as he could, trying to stop the fight.
“Guys, please stop fighting! What’s the problem?”
One grunted as she slowly stood up (which was harder for her than most, thanks to her lack of hands).
“What’s wrong is that FIVE IS HITTING THREE WITH A BALL ON PURPOSE!” she yelled.
Ten sighed. “Really, One? Three gets hit one time by accident and you start having a temper tantrum over it?”
He sighed again and walked away from the scene. As he headed off, he glanced to his right and saw Fourteen chasing Seven.
Ten did
Not
Want
to be dealing with
HIM
right now.
He walked away, feeling a bit lightheaded. After drinking some water from the nearby stream, his headache faded. He turned around — and shrieked. Fourteen had somehow snuck up on him and was only a tail‑length away.
“Fourteen? You startled me — what do you need?” He paused. “I hope you’re not here to eat my skin again. I just got it back.”
Fourteen sighed inwardly. He knew why Ten asked that — after all, he had tried eating Ten’s (and other people’s) skin many times. Still, it stung a little that Ten would immediately assume that was his goal.
He shrugged. “Look, I… I wanted to know if you’re okay. You seemed stressed and you were wobbling.”
Ten’s eyes widened in shock. Surely he wasn’t that surprised someone asked how he was feeling?
“Well, I… I was stressed, but I drank some water and now I’m better! Hey, uh… your legs are wobbling a lot. Are YOU okay?”
Fourteen looked down — and sure enough, his legs were shaking. He realized the only times he ever stood this close to someone were when he was about to eat their skin.
Why else would he stand this close… right?
Suddenly, his head started aching — hard — and everything went black.
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