"Come on, Tali! You gotta take it from me!" shouted Renal. He was running through the village with a grass doll held up, Tali chasing behind.

Tali didn't have any other children his age to play with, so he found himself playing with older kids most of the time. Usually it was fine. Some were nice, like Venal. She always treated Tali well and taught him things, like where not to go and how to pick good grass for toys. The doll in Renal's hand was one made by his sister from grass Tali had picked especially for her. It was his most treasured toy.

"Give back!" Tali shouted. It wasn't the first time the big meanie had taken his stuff, but this time was different. This time he'd gone too far. When he got close enough to Renal, he slapped his tail on the ground and leapt at him. Renal almost got away, but Tali managed to get his shirt before flying by, dragging him along and to the ground.

Getting on top of him, Tali shouted "Give back!" and reached for the doll. The adults nearby looked on in amusement. To them, the squabbles of children brought much delight. To the children though, this was as good as a match to the death.

"Get off me!" Renal shouted, trying to push the much smaller Tali off of him. Unfortunately, Tali had managed top get his tail around Renal, holding him in place. Renal's tail, being stuck under him without much leverage, flailed to the side as uselessly as his shoving arms.

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"Renal!" came a much deeper voice. It was a male from his parent's clutch, Karnal. Renal didn't like him. He always got in the way of Renal's fun, just like he did to everyone in his clutch when they were younger. Renal threw the doll to the side.

Tali leapt to retrieve the doll and clutched it to his chest, glaring daggers at Renal once he had it secured. Renal shivered a bit before turning to Karnal. That look in his eyes was what made Renal want to pick on Tali. It challenged him. Scared him. That made him want to poke at Tali all the more.

"What have I said about stealing from clutchmates?" Karlan asked in that rhetorical yet accusatory tone that all children know and hate.

"But he's not even from my clutch!" Renal whined, not for the first time in these altercations.

"It doesn't matter. You know he's part of your clutch even if he didn't hatch with you. He's got no one else!" came the expected replay, halfway through which Renal's lids started fluttering.

"I see you're not listening properly, as usual. Perhaps some..." the tried and true exchange continued as Renal's sister, Venal, approached Tali.

"Let me see her." she said gently, holding out a claw out to Tali who reluctantly handed over his prized toy. After looking over the grass doll for several seconds, Venal handed it back.

"She looks alright. You'll have her for awhile yet!" she said reassuringly.

"Not hurt?" Tali asked anxiously.

"Not hurt." Venal parroted.

Tali smiled as he followed her back to the play hit where they'd run out of when Renal started his antics, leaving Renal to the hole he dug himself with Karnal.