Forgotten

I've been living with my parents for a long time.
We had a lot of siblings. They were a few dozen.
My parents had a lot of children. It really was great.

We played with them all day, and our parents weren't mad when one of us got severely hurt or died.
We just ate them, and that was it.
They were so delicious.

My parents were very rich, so they didn't have to use us as payment.
They sometimes even got lepin from other families, who joined us for a while.
We worked out with them, and helped them to become very delicious, and when they were ready, we killed and prepared them.

I always wanted to be eaten myself.
There was a very cute sibling I had, and I wanted it to taste me.
It really liked me and I hoped to be its meal for once.
It didn't want me to leave it alone. But I always told it, that it might just be food itself afterwards.
Still, somehow we never got picked as food.

We also had a bunch of servants, who took care of us.
They were very nice, and we could always ask them for help.
But they didn't bother us while playing.

When one day our servant just ate one of my siblings, I was angry.
He just couldn't hold himself back, so he just ate it completely.
At least it wasn't my cutie. But I thought, it could have been it instead.
I yelled at him. I wanted to make clear that I want to be eaten by my cutie one day. So nobody should change this.
It didn't matter if it only got a small piece of me, but that's what I wanted.

I thought, my parents would punish our servant for this.
But no, they were very generous. They are wealthy and can spare one of their children. As long as he didn't do it again, he wouldn't get punished.

Recently all of us went on a family vacation together.
We were going camping at some lake.
We were in the same car.
They had multiple cars. And all of these cars were driven by a servant.
Our parents don't want us children to drive themselves.
And the cars aren't made to be used by children anyway.
My cutie was sitting next to me. We were having nice conversations.
But then it was talking about this again.

Hey, I got an idea.
What if I'll be our special meal at this vacation?
You could try me, and I don't have to worry anymore.

No, you're so cute. I would never eat you.

But one day we'll be eaten anyway.
So I want to be eaten before you at least.
I'll just ask my parents when we reach our destination.
I'm sure they'll be happy.

Can't you just wait a little?
I have to think about this for a while.
I want to spend at least a few days with you.
And maybe we'll find another solution.

You could join me and we'll be eaten at the same time by our parents and siblings. This would really be a honor, wouldn't it?

This really was intriguing.
But I couldn't just let my cutie die.
I wanted it to live longer than me.
To be honest I also couldn't imagine to spend the rest of my life without it.
But I knew this was probably the best solution.

I'll think about it. But let's not rush. Let's decide in one or two days, okay?

Thanks. I'm already looking forward to it, whatever you'll come up with.

My cutie snuggled up to me as we continued driving.

Soon we arrived and it was pretty nice there.
I had a lot of fun, especially with my cutie.
I spend more time with it than ever, since I was scared of losing it forever.

But yesterday, a few days later, I still didn't talk to it about this anymore.
It was the last evening, so it really got impatient, and we had a serious argument. This would have been such a great chance.
We could have been the special conclusion of this vacation.
But no, I tried to avoid this topic until the end.
And after shouting at each other for a while, my cutie just ran away on its own, crying.

I immediately followed it, but it was already dark, so I lost track of it.
I searched for it all evening.

When I came back to my family after a while, everybody seemed full and tired.
Somebody must have been eaten.

I asked around if they have seen my cutie, if it has been the dinner tonight.
But nobody could tell me. Often they weren't even sure which cutie I was talking about.
In the end I just didn't know if it really was it.

So I decided to look for it once more.
And I continued searching until now.
It's already getting light again and I still haven't found it.
Maybe it really was it before. Maybe it already is dead...

I decide to go to the lake and just sit there.
I want to sit at place under a tree, where I've been sitting with it a few times already in the last few days.

And as I go closer, I notice somebody already sitting there.
I can't believe it, but it's actually it.

When it notices me, too, it immediately runs to me and gives me a hug.

I...
I'm sorry.

No, you don't have to be sorry.
I yelled at you, but you just wanted to protect me.
You just didn't want to lose me, but I didn't realize it.
I was stupid.

But I promised you to find a solution, but I didn't.

Maybe there isn't a solution.
Maybe just spending more time with me and hoping, I'd forget it, was the best thing you could do.
Maybe let's just keep spending time together as long as we still can.
Let's just go back.

Sure. But I still want to enjoy this moment with you a little longer.

My cutie giggles and we sit down at our place.
It snuggles up to me again like always.
I guess we're back to normal again.

After a while we get up and go back to our place.
Our family must already be awake by now.

But when we reach them, nobody is here anymore.
Did they already leave? Did we forget time?
They wouldn't just leave us, would they?

My cutie is shocked.

How could they...!
Did they just forget about us?

I'm sure they'll realize it and will be back soon.

Yeah, they wouldn't just forget about us.

While waiting, I try to distract it with casual talk, and we also start to discuss how we could spend our life again.
We both don't want to see each other die. And to be honest, we just don't want to die ourselves as well.
Even if it's a honor to be eaten by our siblings, we just don't want it. We are selfish, but we don't mind being selfish.

After waiting for some hours, they still aren't back.
But maybe it's better like this.

We wonder if we could just spend our life as a couple from now on. One of us would become a man and one would become a woman.
I would be the man of course.
But we are siblings, this isn't such a good idea.
Besides I don't know how to determine how to choose if you're going to be a man or a woman.

But as simple lepin, we will likely be picked up by a stranger and eaten. I wouldn't want that.

Suddenly two other lepin approach us.
One of them steps forward.

Hey, we listened to your conversation.
It seems like you realized in which situation you are.
We want to help you.

Who are you?

I'm the founder of the lepin alliance, and this is my first member.
We want a life without lupin. We don't want to be oppressed by them anymore. We want to keep living forever.

I'm not sure about this.
It seems fishy. They might have some bad intentions.

I don't think, this can work.
This can't work for real, can it?
In the end we have to become lupin, or we'll be eaten by lupin one day, right?

It's possible. We just have to find enough members.
So if you help us to find new members, I'm sure we'll soon live in a society of lepin.

I guess we don't have anything to lose.
If we don't join, we'll soon be eaten by lupin anyway.
This way we at least might have a chance.

But is it only the two of you so far?

Yeah.

Why not more?

It's difficult to get new members.
They don't trust us, just like you.
But most lepin are even worse. They often want to sacrifice themselves to be food for their parents and siblings.
You seemed like you realized how insane this is.
In the end, this is just oppression.

But my parents were always nice to us...

You might be right.

My cutie looks at me in bewilderment.

Even if they care for us, they will just eat us one day.

We also liked to eat some delicious lepin a long time ago.
I know how it is. I probbaly ate more lepin than all of you together.
My parents cared for me, too. But they did this at the cost of other lepin.
So even if they care for you.
But I'm not much better than them. I sacrificed my siblings to keep living myself. I don't want to sacrifice a single friend anymore. I'd rather die myself.

But you're our leader. Without you, we don't have a leader anymore.

I hope, this won't happen too fast.
But at least we have a common goal.
So it doesn't matter if one of us dies. In the end we'll live in a society without any lupin.

Okay, I'll join you. At least if my sib is interested.

Sure, we'll join you, so we can stay together forever.

Great! Just follow us. We know a place where we can stay for a while.

And so we follow them, hoping to be saved.