Sunken Ships, a homestuck fanfic

"Purrrrrrrfect~!" I cried out to no one in particular triumphantly. After a full day of working on my newly established shipping wall, everything was finally done. All the ships looked so per- PURfect together, and I couldn't help but grin. Someday, all these ships will sail. I don't know what will happen if they do- they may sink, or have a wondrous voyage, but what I DO know is ships are made for a reason.

Taking a few steps to the right to examine the possible matesprits, I squealed in delight at the PURfection of Mr. freaky mcfreaky AmPURa and the bubbly fish princess Feferi. They looked so good together! But they weren't matesprits, sadly. They're a lot less than that. But one day for sure, they'll realize that all they need is each other!

Clapping at the sight of the ship right next to it, my cheeks ended up flustering. It was of Equius and Aradia. It wasn't a matesprit relationship, it was a kismesis thing! And it suited them so nicely. But I felt sad for some reason, and even if I just recently placed those ships on the wall, I unconsciously erased the image of Equius and the black spade. Someone else was suppose to be there. Someone else.

I just don't know who.

Feeling sad is obviously the worst thing to feel when shipping… so I took a deep breath and marveled at my other ships. For some reason, I adapted to Karkitty's version of a shipping wall. It was about the humans! The Jade human was with the cool guy, Dave. And the snarky magician Rose was with that dork Karkitty fancied so much, John. At first I thought about loads of other ships I could assign to them, but the ships kept changing, and a cat can only do so much! Besides, I think Karkitty's judgement is just right. For now!

I continued to look at the ships. Something bothered me. Something very awful.

I constantly looked around. I felt watched.

Was someone spying on me?

I'm not usually ashamed of my shipping wall, but when someone sees it, I want to be there so I can explain things! Some people just don't get the complexities of shipping. It's hard!

"Show yourself!" I shouted bravely, no fear hinted in my voice.

I was answered by silence, and all of a sudden, the feeling of being watched was gone.

Weird.

I took a seat on the ground and leaned against the shipping wall. It was so big. And marvelous. And big. And big….

My legs and arms coordinated without the help of my brain, and I found myself crawling to the farthest left of the wall. Boxes blocked my view of what was drawn on the wall, but I knew very well what was there. I was the one who drew it- of course I knew!

It was my guiltiest ship.

"Nyaan.." I poured and curled into a ball, hugging my legs very tightly.

Some ships sail. Some don't. When they do sail, sometimes, they go sail forever, but most of them sink.

It's sad.

Especially for the ships that were never given the chance.

So very, very sad.

I looked up to face the wall on my right, only to see another ship that I erased long before. It was between Kanaya, Vriskers, and Ampura.

Wait.

WAIT.

A thought entered my mind. This ship DID die. But for some reason, it felt like it died a looooooooong time ago. Not how it originally felt.

I immediately stood up and ran, scanning the ships as fast as I could.

Sunk.

Sunk!

I reached the end of the wall, and saw the last pairing, Terezi and Vriskers.

My eyes focused on Vriske- VRISKA!

I slapped myself mentally for using cat puns at a serious time like this.

Vriska…. I couldn't point it out, but something seemed off. It was if ..as if…

"She's dead." A calm, and strangely happy voice said behind me. I quickly turned around, surprised to see Aradia wearing unique but fun looking pajamas. She had wings too! "Aradia?"

"Hello, Nepeta, I haven't seen you in a while." She smiled at me. It was weird. Last time I saw her she was a robo-

She exploded! And Equius and I…we had a talk about it!

And after that… I was… Equius was..

Gamzee… He…

"Nepeta?" I felt Aradia's hand on my shoulders. It was a comforting touch.

The comfort was too much, and I could feel my eyes getting watery.

Then I cried.

And cried.

And cried...

"I'm…we're all dead, aren't we?" I asked, trying to keep my calm even if it was long gone. "We lost, didn't we? Everyone's dead, and-"

"Terezi isn't. So is Gamzee. And Kanaya. And Karkat! Sollux is with me too, but right now he's in a different dream bubble. He died the most too! "

Aradia continued to explain to me what had happened and what is currently happening. This was a memory.

A memory in something called a dream bubble.

Almost everyone who was dead now relied on these bubbles. It gave us a feeling of still being alive. Even if it meant just living in the past. A memory. Something long gone.

"You don't have to worry, Nepeta. Everything will be fine!" Aradia continued to be cheerful, "We can have a party if you want, a corpse party of some sorts. It would be so fun!"

I shook my head and told her it wasn't going to be fun. "It's alright if you don't want to have a party. Why don't you tell me what this is all about?" I followed the direction of her finger. She was pointing at the shipping wall.

"It's not important anymore. All the ships sunk, and we're de-"

"Is that me?" She ignored me and happily went towards the side of the wall where I erased Equius. "Oh my, why did you erase Equius?"

I walked slowly towards her and sighed, "You and Equius are nice together you know!" I managed a grin. "But earlier, I realized it wasn't right. It was a wrong ship."

"Oh?" She said without emotion. I watched her fingers make shapes at the space besides the drawing of her. She was drawing something. Or someone. But I couldn't determine who. The only shape I recognized was a heart. But she quickly overlapped an x shape and shook her head.

"Ships are nice. Even if they don't sail." She smiled at me again. Only this time more softly. With a bit more emotion. But with a little less joy.

"Let's make a different shipping wall!" I tried to lighten up the mood. I don't know why but it felt like it was what I should do. I know I was dead and all, but it doesn't mean I should mope around, especially when a friend was visiting. "It's really easy, and you'll have lots of fun. Here, take this!"

I took some chalk from my pockets and handed it over to Aradia. She seemed enthusiastic about it and we both headed towards an empty wall. She started drawing Sollux and Feferi. Me and Equius. Gamzee and Karkat. Wait-

"Aradia.. You're doing it wrong." I held her hand and gripped it tightly, causing her to stop.

"What do you mean? I, for one, think these ships can go a long way." She nodded and agreed to her own statement.

"Ships aren't just about if they'll go a long way or a short way. It's about the ships that YOU like. What you think is pu- perfect. YOUR ships. Not anybody elses. Or the ones that are currently true!"

I dragged her towards the farthest left. It was where the boxes stood and hid my guiltiest ship.

"This is a ship that I treasure the most." I released her hand and held mine together. "It's really more of a dream ship. But I think it's the best of all."

A smile entered my face as I turned towards Aradia, who was, as expected, confused. "You wanna know why~?"

She nodded.

I kicked all the boxes away. Revealing the ship that it hid.

It was of me.

And Karkat.

"It's the ship I love most. I know it will never be real, I know that!" I flashed another grin. "But it doesn't matter! My heart says it's my one true pairing. My OTP! And even if no one likes this ship, or thinks there are others that are better, I think... I think..."

I took a deep breath and stared at Karkat's drawing. "I think I will always love this ship. Y'know?"

Aradia took the chalk that I took away earlier and hovered over me. I didn't know she could fly. She had wings so I should have at least expected it.

She started drawing ships. Different ships.

First it was of the John Human and Vriska. She then drew a diamond in between them, "They're nice together. Don't you think so?" She turned to smile at me, and I tilted my head in response. Vriska was mean, and the John Human was very kind. It was a good foundation for moiraillegiance, but Vriska was too dangerous. No one can control her. "Did you know she liked him?" Aradia said as if she was reading my mind. "I was surprised too, but she was happy when talking to him. I think he reminds her of Tavros too. And you know them and their thing."

She then started drawing something different. It was Rose and Kanaya. Aradia seemed confused about what quadrant they should be in, so she placed a heart inside a diamond instead. Sometimes I did that too when things were too confusing!

I didn't question her, and she seemed like she knew I agreed with the ship so she started drawing something else.

Aradia had many ships.

She thought everything would go well if given a chance, but there were some that she thinks should be but will never be. She wanted everyone to be happy too. But right now, they were just happy with someone else. That made her frown.

I never knew we were so alike.

"I think this ship is special too." She began drawing a cute little kitty. And a grumpy kitty. And finally, a heart. "Maybe these little kitties will meet in some other world, and in some other time. And the ship will sail. Right, Nepeta?"

I nodded.

It felt nice.

Maybe the kitties will be happy. I hope they will be.

"This is my last ship." I glanced over at the ceiling to observe Aradia's shipping… ceiling. She drew them all over, but left a gigantic space in the center. She started drawing on that empty space.

I don't think I've ever grinned so widely in my entire life.

I heard myself say 'Oh' and I wanted to say it a thousand more times.

Of course, it was him!

"I guess… You could say… This is my guilty ship." She went down and stood beside me. She stared up at the ceiling too, as if she couldn't believe what she drew.

"You know... she's with her right now." She didn't say any names, but I knew exactly who she was talking about. And it made me a bit sad. "I told him I wanted to visit you. And the rest, of course! We spent a lot of time lately. And it was nice."

"But then he said he missed her. So I suggested that he go visit her in one of her dream bubbles. I hope things are going well. I hope they're talking and making up. I hope they're happy."

My body reacted on its own and I hugged her.

Tightly. Really, really tightly. "What else do you hope for?"

"I hope when they're done talking, he'll tell her something about me. I hope he'll say he missed me when I was gone. And how happy he is now that we can spend more time together again."

Her voice remained steady. I thought for sure she would cry.

But she didn't.

"I hope he won't always spend time with her. I hope he'll come back to visit the others with me. To see you, too." Her voice trailed off and she finally hugged back. "I hope he's atleast half as happy when he's with me. I really, really, REALLY hope so."

Aradia broke the hug and continued to look up at her shipping ceiling. "Ships are nice. Even the sunken ones."

I nodded. "Even the sunken ones."

"Or the ones that will never sail."

"But WILL sail, eventually." I tugged on her sleeve and smiled at her reassuringly.

Neither of us talked for a long while.

"Hey AA."

I turned around to see Sollux waving at me. He seemed happy. I did too. "So how did it go?"

"Great. FF and I caught up and stuff. She told me about her dreams and how it was actually fun. Being dead and living in dream bubbles."

Even now, I was still adjusting to his speech. He used to speak differently because of his lisp. He hated it and loved how it was finally gone. Despite him being toothless. I actually missed it.

"Did you have a corpse party?"

"AA…"

"I was kidding, I was kidding!"

I wasn't. Corpse parties are fun!

He suddenly laughed and stood beside me. "We'll arrange a corpse party for everyone some other time. okay?"

"Okay!" I smiled at him, and so did he.

"Nepeta and I spent a lot of time today. And we made ships!"

Sollux looked at me, confused. "Those ships on her walls ships?"

"Yup, those ships!"

"OH." He scratched his head and began thinking. "So, who do you 'ship'?"

He matched his question with air quotes when he said ship. He always found these things strange. I don't know why.

Then I focused on his question. And I remembered.

Especially the last ship.

The ship that's been standing by for a long, loooooong time.

It still is.

And sadly, will always be.

Not unless the other realizes it and moves.

I looked at him with a mischievous smile. He was even more confused.

I walked passed him, hands behind my back, eyes closed.

Just as I was walking pass him; I whispered in his ear, "A ram will never tell her ships."

The ram never did.

And the ship continued to wait in the docks. With the ram waiting patiently for the ship's captain. The captain was too busy with another ship. But maybe he'll come back, and try a different ship. The ram could only wait.

He never came.

"GASP!" I pointed towards the approaching man. He sighed and waved at me. "Hello, Nepeta."

"Sollux! Where's Aradia?" I looked around and even jumped up and down to see if she was right behind him. She wasn't.

"She went to visit Equius. Says she'll find a way to meet us both back or something." He shrugged and so did I.

Equius would probably be happy, I assumed. He always had a fondness for her. And thought how fragile she is. How he wished he could tone down his strength so that someday he could hold her without hurting her. Not that he ever held her before. He could only wish

I pouted childishly and dragged Sollux so he could sit down with me. "Sit, sit!"

We never talked much. Sollux was always so strange.

Everyone was strange, but he was the kind of strange I would never get along with.

So I just made him sit.

"Sitting. Now what?" He sat down. I did too. I had nothing to tell.

We remained silent for a while. That was until he noticed the drawings on the wall. "Soooooo, these are your ships?"

"YES!" I said proudly, with both hands on my waists. I revised all my ships, and I've never been so proud. Some were similar to Aradia's. Some were different. But I still liked my ships. And hers too. Especially the one with the kitties.

"Some of these are good. Woah hold, up, me and Eridan? Kismesis? Fat chance!"

I snickered at his reaction and didn't bother telling him the label on the right side of the wall. It was ships that could happen but I never liked. Why did I even bother making that wall?

He continued to look at the ships, and I observed.

Sometimes his face would turn into a scowl. Sometimes he'd grin. Sometimes, he'll just stare at it really hard and nod.

"The guy's a creep. FF and he never worked it out." I think he was talking to me. But he never waited for a reply and continued talking. "He even killed her! Creeps like him are better off alone an-"

He stopped.

And I was curious why.

He was looking upwards. I realized why he stopped.

It was Aradia's shipping wal- ceiling.

Aradia's biggest ship was right above Sollux, and he just stood there, looking at it.

"Huh."

They way he said it was very confusing to me. "Huh" as in huh- wow who's the idiot who drew that- huh. Or "Huh" as in- oh. I see.- huh.

I couldn't figure it out.

It was a good thing Aradia arrived with Equius a few minutes later. The silence was killing me. Sollux spent the entire time sitting down and staring at the ceiling. Every now and then he'd say 'huh'. What was up with that!

I distracted myself from Sollux and ran up to Aradia and Equius. I then jumped to tackle hug him. He was sweating like crazy again.

"I'll leave you two to catch up, okay?"

And we did catch up.

"Sollux?" I saw him sitting down idly. Right below a drawing of Feferi and Eridan. He looked really bothered.

Oh.

Was he upset Nepeta preferred Eridan over him?

He really shouldn't be. It was her ships after all, not his. But he was my friend. So I sat beside him and poked his cheek, "You don't have to take ships so seriously."

He looked at me questioningly, as if he wasn't sure what it was I just said. "Ships depend on the person. It's different for everyone too. Nepeta's preferences shouldn't bother you so much, don't worry!"

I smiled at him reassuringly. But he didn't smile back. Instead, he looked up.

Did it bother him that much?

"It's not the difference that bothers me, AA." He finally spoke. And this time, I was the one who was confused. "It's how I agree with them."

Confusion hit me even harder.

And I think he noticed.

He pointed upwards, so I looked up. Before I could see what it was he was pointing at, I felt something really warm touch my lips.

And somewhere in the docks, I felt a rope being loosened.

An old ship finally sailed.

Word Count: 3,161

Note: I write when depressed. I didn't have a specific plot or anything, but I was down enough to open Word and type out shit. And now it's time for my usual apology. Sorry if the character's seem ooc and I think the way I used the dream bubble thing is wrong? XD

At first it was suppose to end with Nepeta and Aradia's convo, but it felt wrong. Then it was suppose to end with the 'He never came', but Aradia didn't deserve any of my bullshit, so I continued and it eventually gained a happy ending.

IDEK.

I don't even ship Nep/Kar, but I like how the pairing works. And it seemed right for the whole sunken ships theme.

And is it obvious the only cat puns I know are purrrrrfect and the name calling thing? XD