A/N: Sorry, I didn't realize this was the un-proof read version. D: It's been updated now.

Pain. Pain and heat. That was all that you could feel as you stumbled back in what you were sure had to be the direction of your hive. The bottoms of your feet hurt. Your muscles hurt. Your back hurt. Oh god, your eyes hurt so badly and you couldn't see anything but everything was so tender on your face that you weren't sure if you couldn't open your eyes or something much worse happened. At this moment, you were hoping it was the former but what you could feel past the burning and blunt pain was what you thought were your eyes being open.

You never remember your ladder being like this. Being so… terrifying. You could feel everything underneath you. You were so aware of every little movement or noise that was around you. That slight swing that came from each step you took farther up felt like the whole tree swaying and threatening to come down. It was so unnerving, so unsteady that it almost made your stomach nauseous thinking about how close you were to falling and getting more hurt than you already were. Ignoring this, you pushed on and came to the front window, not jumping down onto the floor like usual but cautiously putting your foot out until you felt the floor beneath your feet, then stepping down.

You weren't sure what to do. You had a few options but none of them seemed too safe to you. You could go to sleep, see if the sopor would make everything better, make the pain go away and maybe make that slight tugging you've been feeling in the back of your mind go too. You weren't sure what it was and in all honesty you weren't sure whether it was comforting or terrifying, even if it was just a symptom of your knew found disability.

Your only other options were to stay up and wander your hive; there was no good that would do. There was nothing to do that most likely wouldn't end with you tumbling down a flight of stairs or even out of your tree, much less find something actually worth trying to waste your time. Or you could get on Trollian and try to get help from someone. You knew that there as little chance you could get through this on your own. Even if you managed to by yourself, you'd have probably done so much harm trying to do little things like eat that it would barely be worth it. So maybe Sollux knew how to fix this or at least knew what was going on. All you seemed to figure out so far was that you were sure Vriska or Mr. Vanilla Ice-cream was behind this and Sollux had helped you with everything else that had to do with her so why not this? Another thing you knew for sure was that there was no way that it was simply coincidence; that this would happen right after you got payback for Team Charge. FLARPing pride aside, there was no reason for this and you needed to make things right, make things fair. Vriska never seemed to understand that and even more so she didn't seem to now. She was the problem with getting on Trollian, despite your new trouble with your eyes. You couldn't click to choose who you were talking to. What would happen if you were to do something stupid as in message Vriska, ask her to come to your hive or something of that nature? Now was not the time to be messing with her.

The air around you is damp and you're not sure whether it's rain, tears, or blood running down your face. You clench your fists, shaking your head as if to shake away the doubts you had, feeling around the room in front of you for your computer chair. Maybe you could message someone like Feferi? That wouldn't be that bad. She'd tell Sollux. Tavros would tell Gamzee or Karkat and if he told Gamzee, he would tell Karkat. Karkat is close enough to Sollux. He'd come to your hive and message Sollux for you. You know their rivalry is fake, he'd probably suggest contacting him. You'd find someone that wasn't Vriska.

Sitting down in your chair, you open your husktop and begin clicking around where you assume your Trollian shortcut is. You hear the all too familiar tone that signals the program starting up and a wave of relief comes over you. Half the battle was over. Hitting the tab key a few times to get past the menu bar, you hit it only once or twice more, stopping and staring at your screen. It's not like you can see it but you're staring at it intently, not sure if this is what you really want to do. You hated this. You hated feeling so helpless and nervous. You weren't supposed to be scared. Vriska was horrible but you've dealt with her for forever now. There's still a slight shake to your hands when you finally do it though, despite trying to calm yourself down. Breathing in deeply, then holding your breath, you press the Enter bar and once again hear the familiar tone and can almost visualize a chat box springing to life saying "gallowsCalibrator [GC] began trolling…"

You steady your hands on the keyboard, trying to make sure you're in line to minimize as many typos as possible you hear the tone of your computer saying that the person you started a chat with is messaging you. Must be a little impatient. You couldn't help but laugh a bit, though you realize this is a mistake soon after when the pain from your sore muscles and burns hits you.

"CG: TEREZI, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?
GC: VR1SK3?
CG: NO, THIS ISN'T FUCKING VRISKA. WHAT THE HELL, DON'T YOU EVEN KNOW WHO YOU MESSAGED?
GC: 1 R34LLY HOP3 1TRS NOT VR1SK4
GC: COM3 OT MY H1VC3
CG: WHAT? WHY?
CG: TEREZI, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?
CG: TEREZI?
CG: GOD FUCKING DAMMIT.
carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]."

And now you wait. You really hoped this decision didn't mean life or death for you because it easily could. If it was someone like Eridan you might even be screwed. Feferi's lusus may not eat other trolls but you really didn't want to find out if it had a specific preference. Though, you'd probably not have to worry about that seeing as how you'd drown before you got to her. Vriska would feed you to her lusus or maybe just play with you, then kill you herself. If it was Gamzee, he may never receive the message. He's so light headed he's probably off at the sea, watching for his lusus, not paying attention to his Trollian. You could be waiting for days before you get a reply. Fun thoughts.

That tugging at the back of your mind is getting stronger and it's starting to scare you. You think it might be Vriska. Maybe, just maybe, she found a way around it. Maybe now she can get to you and that's what happened. Maybe she's still there, even if she isn't controlling you yet. This time though, it wasn't telling you to go outside. It was telling you to go into your recuperacoon and you wanted to obey more than anything at that moment.

You fight with yourself for a little bit, not even sure where you're recuperacoon was. Vriska seemed to know quite well. The tugging in your mind was trying to show you the way to it and after a few moments, you gave in. Taking off your clothing, you follow the mental prodding. You can understand words but you don't know what they mean or how you can even identify them. It's just a simple humming, almost like a melody. You understand though. You understand that it's... it's almost apologetic. That it wouldn't hurt you. It's trying to comfort you. That scares you more than anything.

Hesitantly, you climb into the sopor; the goo surrounding you and making your limbs tingle. It's refreshing. The pain, the soreness, the worry; it's gone. The voice, the humming is louder and along with all of your pain, the fear had left too. You knew this humming. It had been there all along, you realize. You just had never listened to it before. It was a female voice, words becoming more apparent so the melody was more like singing. She was singing you to sleep, and soon, you obeyed.