A Dream Of Too Many Moons.

'Magic Is A Font For Things Harrowing To The Soul.' - 13tlu

Twelve led Chicken Nugget back to the group with a sense of urgency, her thoughts racing. As she emerged from the dense underbrush, she saw Eleven and Thirteen waiting by the trees. Eleven was scanning the forest with a worried expression, her eyes darting back and forth as if trying to find something—or someone—missing.

When Twelve finally reached them, she couldn't ignore the tension in the air.

Thirteen was the first to notice her, he was sitting on a rock with his leg propped up when he caught sight of her, a grin forming, "Twelve! You're alright!"

Twelve smiled, walking closer and tugging Chicken Nugget along with her, "I am, and you won't believe who I found!"

The mapmaker's eyes brightened even more, "You found Chicken Nugget! That's amazing!..I would come over but Eleven said I shouldn't walk."

Twelve's gaze flickered over to Eleven, who's relief was palpable, but it was quickly overshadowed by her visible frustration. Causing Twelve to get nervous, Were the thieves here?

"Is something wrong? What happened?" She asked, watching Eleven practically stomp closer.

"Where have you been?" Eleven's voice was sharp, cutting through the ambient sounds of the forest. "Do you have any idea how worried we were? You just disappeared!"

I came back, why is she mad?

Twelve flinched at the tone but tried to stay calm. "I'm sorry? Eleven. I—"

"Sorry?" Eleven interrupted, her eyes narrowing as she stepped closer. "You're sorry? We just escaped from some thieves, and you just ran off without a word! Do you understand what its like to wake up after a night like that and you find out that one of you is missing?!"

I wasn't missing, I was gone for ten minutes..

Thirteen winced, both from his injury and the intensity of Eleven's reaction. "..Well, let's not get too worked up. Twelve's back now. We've got Chicken Nugget back, so we—"

"No, this needs to be addressed," Eleven snapped, cutting him off. "Twelve, I get that you were excited or whatever, but you can't just run off like that! I don't know what its like on your world and I won't pretend to know! But what if something had happened to you? Did you ever think of that?"

What could've happened? I was very careful..

Twelve looked down, her excitement from the encounter dampened by Eleven's anger. "I..didn't think anything would go wrong.. I woke up and heard a noise, and I found Chicken Nugget!"

Eleven's frustration didn't waver, though her tone softened slightly. "Twelve, this world isn't safe, maybe back home, it is. But here, you can't trust everyone, and you can't just run off. Imagine if I had to go look for you, Thirteen's in no condition to walk so far, I would have had to leave him here to look for you, and if he had gotten captured while I was gone, those thieves wouldn't wait for us to come and get him. If you were caught, we wouldn't be able to find you, and this whole journey would be for nothing."

Oh..

Oh.

That makes sense..

"..sorry," Twelve said, her voice quiet. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble..."

Eleven didn't budge, "I don't want a sorry, I want you to understand."

Thirteen sadly stared at her, "She does, Eleven.. You gave her 3 paragraphs of why it sucked. Twelve was just trying to do what she thought was right, you said it yourself: she doesn't know how dangerous things are.."