She woke up that night groggily. She looked out, and saw the quiet sky of her world shimmer in greeting. She slowly stood, rubbing her eyes, looking around. Her matesprit seemed to already have left. She frowned, leaning over to grab her shirt and slip it on. Her computer blinked to greet her with a message from a friend. She sat down at the computer, looking it over. Great. It's a bit early to look at another rant... She thought, scanning over her other Trollian logs. She hovered over her favorite. As cheesy and un-rad as it might seem to others, she loved it. Just a simple conversation between her and her matesprit. It seemed so easy at the time, but she still loved it for the basicness of it. Before all this craziness happened. Reluctantly, she scanned the screen to her Trollian and scanned over the log. Blah, Blah, stop itemizing, care for your matesprit, blah. Normal stuff to awake to, I suppose.
She walked over to her pile of clothes and claimed a random pair of pants. They were a bit loose. Must be Mituna's... Latula thought, walking out of the room, exiting the hive. To her surprise, a slightly unwelcome guest walked up to her.
"Oh, good morning, Latula. I hoped you slept well, with all the ignoring you were doing of me. I'll admit, I am slightly frustrated that you outright ignored me and didn't bother to talk to me. I can honestly say..." Kankri droned.
Even if I ignored you, which I did, that doesn't mean I want to hear it now, Vant-
"Honestly!? You're ignoring me now, aren't you, Pyrope?" Kankri yelled. She jumped, as it was rare when he raised his voice. She walked past him, regardless, passing him. "No, you come back here and just tell me you don't want to hear it!"
She flipped around and faced him. "Fine, then, Vantas! You want to? I don't want to hear your stupidity! I care for my matesprit enough, and I know for a fucking fact I don't need to hear it from you!" Latula yelled back in one breath. She breathed heavily, scanning his face. The little bastards content, isn't he?! She thought, as Kankri smiled back at her. I swear... He's a good guy, but he needs to butt out of things that don't involve him!
As she started to turn around, someone tapped her shoulder from behind. She turned faster than she planned, expecting to see Cronus standing in front of her. It wasn't. It was Kurloz, purple tears streaking down his face. His sewn mouth contorted into a frown, he began signing frantically at her. "Kurloz, calm down! I can't read your handy-talking things!"
"I can, if you would apologize to me for ignoring me. It really did trigger me, if you couldn't tell." Kankri said, taking a step towards her from behind, peering over her shoulder.
"Oh my gog, you're hopeless, Vantas. Fine, I'm 'sorry'." She seethed.
"Alright, good enough, even if you were sarcastic," He smirked, stepping around her. "He's saying something about Mituna... Uh... Seriously, Kurloz, it would help if you slowed down a little." Kankri paused, waited, nodded, and then his eyes went wide. "Uh, Latula... Go with Kurloz. It'll be easier to just see it, I guess... I'll go tell the others!" He ran off toward a Fourth Wall to jump through to find the others.
Latula stood there, eyes widened. "Something bad has happened to Tuna? Lead the way, Kurloz! If it was Cronus, I swear..." She fumed, following Kurloz. He started at a slow, mournful walk. "Kurloz, geez. It's like you're walking to a grave..." Latula paused.
"Kurloz, run. Run right the hell now!" She yelled, pushing him forward. He stumbled, then began to run.
"Oh my g..." She whispers, collapsing to her knees, far from the scene. Yellow coated a small area around it, life void of the area. She crawled forward slowly, mouth open in disbelief. A hand came from behind her, grabbing her shoulder lightly. She looked back quickly at the owner of the hand. Kurloz stood behind her, streaks of purple lines on his skin flowed down his face freely. She threw his hand off, glaring accusingly. He moved his hand away, surprised, about to break into another silent sob. She crawled forward some more, knees touching the yellow, her hands shaking. The smell of iron was overbearing. She shakingly grabbed his hand.
His hand was ice cold, shivering. She jumped in surprise, and grabbed him, hugging him, forcing as much of her life from her body into his. She sat up quickly, looking at Kurloz. "Get Aranea, quick! He's alive, you dunce! Get her now! NOW!" Kurloz jumped, startled, and turned and ran.
"H...Hey..." He shakingly mumbled as he coughed.
"N-No! Don't speak, okay? Aranea is coming, okay?" She whispered, cupping his pale cheek in her hand. "You'll be fine..."
"Wh...Who'th Aranea..?" He muttered, opening his eyes slightly, lifting his head to look at her.
"She's the one who'll save you, Tuna, okay? Just... Stay still, please, Tuna..." She whispered softly, leaning his head back, quietly worrying.
"Nn... W-Why am I on the ground..? Why ith it tho cold...?" Mituna mumbled, lowering his eyelids.
"N-No! Tuna, stay awake! Please! Open your eyes, babe!" She shouted in desperation, patting his cheek in a rush. His breathing had slowed down, so she reached around him, and hugged his body, burying her face into her stomach, shoulders shaking. "Please, Mituna... Don't leave me, Tuna, please..." She shook, breathing heavily and shakingly, the smell of iron burning her eyes. She refused to move, the scent breaking all the way into her core and throughout her body, the scent imprinting itself into her mind. He's dying...
She shook, sobs escaping her lungs, holding him. Blackness greeted her as an old friend, iron following her into her nightmares.
"Hey, wake up," A familiar voice said lightly, pushing onto her shoulder. She moaned, iron continuing to perforate her nostrils.
She looks up to see Mituna sitting up, frowning at her. Aranea is behind him, smiling at her.
"He'll be fine, I promise. He's going to be loopy for a while, but if I'm right, he'll be back to normal in no time," She smiled at her, then held up a finger. "One thing, though. I noticed that you kept sniffing in your sleep. I have some bad news..." Aranea said, beginning to frown.
"But, you said he'll be fine!" She sat up quickly, looking at her angrily.
"No, he'll be fine! You... Well, you lost your scent, didn't you?"
Latula sniffed heavily and nodded. "All I s-smell is blood."
Aranea nodded slowly. "You lost it, it seems, but not in a way I can fix..." She leaned down and wiped some life-blood off Latula's face slowly and tentatively. "It's complicated... Since it's due to your thinkpan having issues, I can't fix it..." Aranea looked at Latula compassionately. "I'm so sorry... It must have been from the sudden stress... I heard of this happening, but I never thought..."
Latula laughed, tears streaming down her face, looking towards Mituna. "As long as he's safe, I don't even care!"
Aranea smiled again. "I'll give you two some time, then." She said, smiled, and walked away towards Kurloz, who was smiling again.
"Heh, well, they're gone. Now we can talk, Tuna. About what happened. Because..." She laughed, sniffing again, "You scared me, Tuna!"
"I didn't mean to, but I have a quethtion..." He said, looking down at her slowly.
"Yeah? You first!" She laughed, gleefully. She grabbed his hands, looking up at him.
"Who are you?"