Hello all. I noticed that there were no stories involving the thirteenth sign, Ophiuches, so I decided to give it a go.
Please tell me what you think!
Pchooo~ BERRY AWAY!
Behind the thick foliage of a late summer tree, an arrow shot outwards, impaling a small rat-like lusus to the nearby tree with a spray of cyan blood. The arrow was threaded and pulled once more, golden-orange eyes narrowing as a larger deer lusus was spotted.
Breathing deeply, the bowstring was pulled taught, the arrow begging to be released. The figure's arms grew taught, slight muscles showing through the skin of frail arms, pulling ashen flesh tight against ribs and hips.
"Shut up, fuckass!" sharp ears picked up the far-off sound of a male's gruff voice. Freezing in place, the figure allowed its bow to go lax for a moment.
The deer ran.
"You're just mad because I'm right KK. Tho you thut up." The figure slinked back further into the trees as it heard another voice, this one with a slight lisp, closer to its tree.
"Chill out motherfuckers, we just have to find Eq-bro's arrow. It'll be easy as sopor pie." A third voice made itself known shortly before the owner did.
The first thing noticeable about the figure were his long, rather goat-like horns that resided in a mass of dark hair that looked in dire need of a brushing. The figure was tall and lanky with long limbs,garbed in what looked like spotted pajama pants and a shirt that appeared to be a size or two too large for him from the way it hung off of the male's skinny figure. The figure in the tree bit back a hiss as the male on the ground turned to look back at his companions, the indigo symbol on his shirt identifying him as a high blood. The figure chose to ignore the garish face paint adorning his dark grey skin.
Eyes narrowed, the figure watched as two other figures, both obviously male, made their way into the small clearing. The first, or rather, the second was also fairly tall, and sported a double set of horns atop fairly short hair. It appeared he had glasses from the gleam of smooth plastic behind his pointed ears, but it was rather difficult for the figure to tell the size or shape from its position. The t-shirt he was wearing seemed slightly too large for him as well, yet it fit better than the high blood's did.
"Here it is. The fuck ass actually hit something this time." The gruff voice suddenly had an owner. This troll was noticeably shorter than the other two, his slouched figure only accentuating that fact. Two small, nubby horns were barely visible in his dark, somewhat curly hair as he yanked the arrow out of the tree, cursing loudly as cyan blood splattered on his black turtleneck when the rat lusus fell forward with a thud.
Turning to his companions, whatever words that formed on his scowling lips fell on deaf ears. The figure had taken a sharp intake of breath as he turned, the grey cancer symbol barred to the world in front of him. The figure had heard a rumor that grey symbols meant mutants. As soon as the figure saw this, it had leaned forward sharply, only to have its horns tap the branch in front of them quite loudly. The hollow thunk rang though the clearing caused the group to go silent as the figure cursed, barely loud enough to be heard.
But it was loud enough.
The arrow in the crab boys' hands dropped to the ground as he growled at the noise, quickly retrieving a twin set of sickles out of his strife syllabus. The dual-horned boy whipped around as well, facing the tree, a hand on his dual colored glasses as red and blue energy crackled in the air. The high blood only let out a lazy smile.
"C'mon on out, spying motherfucker." He demanded in a lazy sort of way, letting his hands find their way to his pockets. The figure pursed its lips, staying completely still as it observed the three trolls before it. Clenching its teeth and biting its lip, it descended, landing lightly on its bare feet before glaring up at the three, pulling its loaded bow taught once more.
Karkat POV
Fuck that stupid fucker Equius. He just had to go off and shoot an arrow into the gog damn middle of nowhere just to show off his 'strength' or some shit. But fuck that, the matter at hand is way more important.
The girl before us had her arrow pointed at Sollux, a clear death wish. She would deserve it anyways; she was hiding in the gog damn trees after all, the spying fuck ass.
"Whoa, calm down sis, we don't want to hurt you." Gamzee's voice broke my train of thought. "I'm Gamzee motherfuckin Maraka, pleased to make your motherfucking acquaintance." I nearly laughed as she swiftly changed targets and glared at the juggalo with a frown.
She refused to talk, so he continued, that dopey smile never leaving his face. As he explained that we were out here because we needed to get into the game, but we still had to wait. I took a chance to look her over.
She was short, that much was apparent straight away. She looked frail too, her scrawny body displaying her ribs and hip bones. Hell, I bet even Nepeta had a few inches and pounds on her. Her skin was a light ash color, not entirely unlike most of us, but different that the dark skin of trolls like Equius and Gamzee.
Her horns though, they were a sight to behold. They were about as long as Gamzee's were, give or take a few inches, but were unlike any others I had ever seen. They were paler than most trolls and pronged in several places, very similar to the deer lusus that roamed the forest around here.
Gamzee must have said something to piss her off, because she suddenly bared her teeth and pulled her bow even tighter with a hiss. They were small teeth, the canines barely elongated, though they looked very sharp in contrast to the rest of her fairly rounded teeth.
Something else he said must have pacified her, because she let the bow go lax, as she caught the faygo he threw at her and began to talk. I watched her dark grey lips move rather than hear her words as she talked to Gamzee. I idly noticed the small freckles on her face. She must be weird like Kanaya and spend time in the sun. Suddenly, she turned to me. I was caught off guard by her blazing orange eyes, so I did what I always do.
I glared.
"Give me back my arrow." She demanded, her soft voice cracking slightly from what seemed like lack of use. That spying fucker wasn't getting jack shit from me, no matter how harmless she seemed.
"Come and get it fuckass." I snapped back without thinking. An arrow zipped by my head without warning. Growling, I lunged forward, sickles aimed for the smooth column of flesh that provided her with the ability to breathe.
Sollux POV
I frowned, but removed my hand from my glasses as she pointed her arrow at me. I forced myself to calm down; she was probably just looking for food after all.
I stared her down as Gamzee talked, taking in the sight of the small, frail troll. Long hair fell down her back in a wavy black mass, not unlike Aradia's did, though hers looked much messier. Her shirt was ripped to rest just above her abdomen, letting her ribs show whenever she moved. Tight black pants rested low on her hips and ended just below her ankle, letting her hip bones protrude. Looking at her pants, I noticed that she lacked shoes. With a frown, I noticed that she was covered in what appeared to be dirt and dried blood, whether it was hers or not remained a mystery to me.
Being the closest, I could also see that here were several spots of discoloration marring the skin of her arms and torso, as well as what seemed to be a set of scars on her stomach. Noticing that the way I was examining her was essentially checking her out, I chocked a bit in the back of my throat, a mustard-colored blush rising up my neck.
As she looked at Gamzee, I took in her face. It was fairly rounded, making me believe that she couldn't be older than five sweeps. Her eyes were rather large and round, and a rather dark orangey gold color, which baffled me. Only older trolls had dark eyes, but then again, it could just be malnourishment.
Moving my line of vision from her eyes, I noticed that her bangs only swept over half of her face before curling around her jawbone. Her ears were also rather large, something that went well with her deer-like horns.
I took a step back as she barred her teeth at Gamzee, holding back a laugh. She looked more like a frightened kitten than a deadly lion as she let out a hiss. Leaning against a tree, I analyzed her symbol, one that I had only heard of a handful of times. The sideways oval with a straight vertical line through it was splayed across her small chest in grey.
Sighing as she caught the Faygo bottle, I began to mess with my mobile device, seeing what I could dig up on the symbol. Before long, the defined 'thunk' of an arrow hitting it's target sounded next to over, I spotted an arrow embedded up to the shaft in a tree barely three feet away. I sighed, glaring at her before realizing that Karkat was charging her.
Damn, I would have liked to ask her about her symbol.
Gamzee POV
"Whoa, calm down sis, we don't want to hurt you." I told the strange troll as she fell from the trees and pointed her arrow at Sollux, which was never a good move.
"I'm Gamzee motherfuckin Maraka, pleased to make your motherfucking acquaintance." I tried to get her to chill, but she didn't even budge from her offensive position.
"You deaf sis?" I finally asked after about a minute of complete silence from her.
She glared and turned to aim at me, her mouth set in a frown and eyes blazing. I smiled at her. Her anger was like a motherfucking miracle.
"We just need some food and shit so we can get to the motherfuckin game when the time is right." I tried to explain as she frowned, pulling her bow tighter.
"Listen sis, let's have some motherfuckin miracles all up in here and get some friendship on." She looked less pissed, but not enough to stop aiming at me.
"What's your name sis?" I asked somewhat gently, smile never leaving my face. She bared her teeth and hissed at me, making her notice how cracked her lips were. I frowned, she must be hungry and thirsty if her body was any indication.
I laughed quietly, watching the bright colors of my captchalog swirl around my retina for a minute before reaching in and grabbing a bottle of Faygo. Cracking the cap before screwing it back on, I smiled at her.
"Here sis, seems like you need something to drink." I tossed the bottle at her in a gentle ark and she caught it, still managing to keep a grip on her bow as she opened it and took a sip. She looked grateful for a moment. Miraculous.
Screwing the cap back on, she tossed it back, which I sighed at, I had wanted her to keep it. Smiling at her as I put it back, I asked again. "So, name sis?"
"Neidri Amphas." She spoke gently, her voice cracking bit. I guessed that she hadn't talked in quite a while. Wouldn't be too weird for a troll that seemed to like the sun. She fiddled with her bow again, but I continued to smile.
"How old are you? I'm six miraculous motherfuckin sweeps old." I smiled lazily at her.
"I." She paused a moment, looking up with an apprehensive look, probably deciding whether or not to tell the truth. "I just turned six sweeps." She admitted, shuffling her feet. So she was pretty young, about Nepeta's age.
Silence consumed the conversation for a few moments before I broke it, noticing that she was glaring at , was she glaring at my shirt? Yep. Must have a thing against purple.
"What is that symbol on your motherfuckin shirt? I've never seen it before. Fuckin miraculous." I spoke with a smile as she glared at the symbol on my shirt.
"It…It's..uh..nothing." She spoke quietly before she was silent once more. Suddenly, she turned to Kar-bro before I could comment, demanding her arrow.
She shot at him when he refused and I laughed, motherfucking miracles were about to take place.
Neidri POV
"Shit." I murmured under my breath, spinning my body away from the angry crab just in time to avoid his sickle. Jumping backwards unsteadily once more, I let out a low hiss. I glared at the high blood as he laughed.
Pompous bastard probably poisoned the soda he gave me, dirty fucking high blood. I growled to myself as I dodged sloppily again, just barely getting out of the way.
I guess the rumors that grey was for mutant bloods was untrue, if seeing the way he acted like a pompous high blood was any indication. I frowned as I tried to thread an arrow through the bow, only to have it cut in half by the crab's sickle.
This gog damn bow is going to get me nowhere. I threw it at the crab, hitting him square in the nose and disorienting him for a moment.
Looking to the side, I bit back a smile as the double-horned one face palmed at my awesome misuse of my bowkind. The crab lunged at me again, but I had nothing to hit him with. My thoughts finally caught up with me and I came to a sicking revelation.
I did not think this shit through.
Now I have no weapon, I'm weak and the crab is back. I resisted the urge to face palm. In my moment of thought, the crab had gained ground and was lunging foreward, sickles pointed upwards.
Eyes widening, I shot a bare foot outwards, hitting him square in the chest, barely even knocking him back an inch. Quickly retracting my foot, I jumped backwards just in time to avoid a sickle to my Achilles tendon.
"Well, that was unfortunate." I mused outwardly as I dodged another high swipe, only to get a sickle to the side. He smiled as he hooked the sharp tip deeper into my side before pulling it towards upwards and sideways, slicing my ash skin open like it was paper. Letting out a sharp cry, I cursed eyes wide as a hand shot to my midsection, pressing hard into the new cut.
Bright orange blood began to spill out of the laceration. The liquid, thick from lack of food and water spilled and slipped past my fingers like they were pebbles in a stream. The crab dropped his sickles with a clatter. I backed away shakily, ignoring the shocked face of the crab.
Moving my hand from the fresh cut, I spared a glance downwards, gritting my teeth at the orange coating my flesh from just above my hip to about an inch shy of my bellybutton. I involuntarily whimpered when I pressed my hand back into my side. Looking up, I remembered who I was around.
Giving a rather deer-caught-in-headlights look to the high blood, I bolted. I knew what he could...what he would do to a mutant like me.
No one POV
Eyes wide, Karkat dropped his weapons and took off after the orange blooded troll. Never before had he met another mutant blood and he would be damned before he let this one get away.
Snapping out of their confused and somewhat shocked states, Gamzee and Sollux took off after Karkat, Gamzee easily catching up while Sollux had a noticeably more difficult time.
Her hair whipped around her as she panted, the pain from her side burning more intensely with every step she took. Staggering and tripping over a root protruding from the ground, she let out a whimper as her vision began to blur when the ground rushed up to meet her.
She cursed herself for not hunting earlier as she dug her fingers into the soft earth and pulling herself forward as much as she could before shuddering at the feeling of a rock slipping past the open wound in her side.
Hearing the footsteps and shouts of the trolls behind her she hissed, trying to stand once more. Gripping the bark of a tree nearby, she managed to pull herself to a standing position. She stumbled a few feet before hunger and pain brought her to her hands and knees. She heaved, feeling like she was about to vomit even though there was nothing in her stomach.
Karkat twisted his right foot to the side, skidding to a stop when he saw the fallen troll girl. He was followed closely by Gamzee and shortly by a wheezing Sollux. Panting, he attempted to regain his breath as he walked towards the fallen girl, placing a gentle hand on her back.
He frowned as she tried to squirm away and fell, her blood seeping into the dry earth. He attempted to move her hand from her side to see how bad the damage was, only to receive a low hiss followed by a soft whimper. She was obviously in pain and needed help. Gamzee walked slowly to the dirty, hissing, whimpering mess of a troll, gently crouching before her.
Sliding his shirt off, he managed to get her arm away just enough to push the fabric into the cut, only to be rewarded with a weak hiss. Gently wrapping his arms around her, he picked her up in one smooth movement. He cradled the bleeding troll against his chest, noting that her eyes were glazed over and her pupils dilated. Poor thing was like a sick animal. He let out a light chuckle.
"Let us help." A gentle voice spoke the last words she heard before she let the wave of darkness consume her senses.