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//CHAPTER 2
Orange
Oh, how they wish for a different fate,
Go undo the harm, to alter their state.
But life's canvas is painted with mistakes,
And regret is a burden their soul undertakes.
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Orange was huddled in his own hideout, curled up on his little ledge. He sniffled as a tear ran down his snout.
He couldn't believe he did that.
He had attacked them again. Orange hated himself for that. He could never control himself. He was just a problem for the others. They weren't his real friends, surely not, after that incident.
A part of him knew that he could control himself if he tried. But he wanted so badly to forget everything. He didn't want to remember.
He relished in his kill mode. How he could move and kill without thinking a single thought. It was freeing. But he didn't want that if it was going to hurt his friends.
He spent another half hour quietly crying to himself, becoming swamped by his guilt, before he decided to go apologize to Cyan.
He slowly got up from his huddled position and climbed down from his ledge. He took a couple bites from his food bowl, which had recently been filled. He took that moment to compose himself.
As he stood up and walked over to the entrance to his cave, he saw that Cyan and Blue were both standing there.
Apparently they had been talking in whispers, because they stopped whatever they were saying when they saw Orange.
Orange took a moment to take a deep breath. Right before he opened his mouth to speak, Cyan started talking.
"Orange, I know you probably want to be left alone right now, but I wanted to check on you, make sure you were alright after all that." Cyan said, and she sounded genuinely concerned for him as she said this.
Orange blinked in shock for a second. She didn't sound mad at him, and Blue standing next to her didn't look mad either. They both looked worried.
"I..." Orange started, then stopped as he heard how scratchy his own voice was. He took another moment and cleared his throat before trying again.
"I am so sorry, Cyan." He said softly. He looked at the ground, not meeting her eyes or Blue's one eye.
Cyan sighed softly, then stepped a little closer to him, forcing him to look up at her. "Orange, I'm not mad. It's not your fault, you weren't yourself. Don't beat yourself up over it." She told him.
Orange was surprised that she wasn't mad. She had a bandage wrapped around her tail where he had bitten her. He was the cause of it.
But it didn't have to happen again.
He stood quietly for a moment, not saying anything, only thinking to himself.
After a couple moments, he realized that he hadn't said anything else yet.
"I really am sorry Cyan. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you? Please?" He asked her, lowering his head.
Cyan looked uncomfortable for a moment. She quickly composed herself.
"I- no. It's okay, really. Yellow bandaged it up, it's really not a problem. But Orange, are you sure you're okay?" Cyan asked, changing the subject.
Orange looked back up at Cyan, he wanted to sob, to tell her that he just couldn't take it anymore.
He wanted it so bad.
Instead he smiled.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just got a little carried away, Cyan. You don't need to worry about me." Orange said. He kept smiling, waiting for her response.
Cyan studied him for a moment, seeming unconvinced, before she finally gave in.
"Okay, if you say so. But if you need anything, remember that you can talk to any of us. We're your friends."
Orange knew that the others would probably understand, but for some reason he just couldn't bring himself to talk about it.
He then decided that he didn't need to talk, he would be fine.
With that, Cyan and Blue both left, leaving Orange by himself.
Orange sank to the ground with a groan. He really needed a plan. If he didn't want to hurt his friends anymore, he knew he was going to have to face the facts.
He needed a way to control himself. To control his Predator form.
That was when Orange got an idea.
It wasn't perfect, but he supposed he had enough time to make it work out.
He stood up and dusted himself off. He walked back over to the corner of his lair to sketch out his plan on the walls, behind a rock so that no one could see it.
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The chapters will usually be separated into 5-6 parts. The first chapter was an exception. Thanks for reading!
Next Chapter: Forget Your Regrets (Part 2/5)