I didn't die I promise.
CREDIT GOES TO HUSSIE, OUR LORD AND SAVIOR.
...
The scene opens on a closed stage, the red curtains are ratted and old. Burn marks and cuts allow the watcher/reader to see into the darkened stage.
A single tap on the microphone notifies the audience of the narrators presence. The narrator coughs a couple times before starting to speak.
"Once upon a time, in a land far far away fro- wait, shit, wrong book." the book is shut loudly and rusling is heard through the mic.
"Hold on..." the narrator mumbles.
A collective murmurer spreads through the audience before the sound of pages being turned catches their attention again.
"There we go..."
all sound stops for a moment as the curtains rise on the still darkened stage...
"This story, like all stories, starts with a princess. Or in this case, prince." the narrator begins again, just as the lights focus in on a boy.
Your name is...oh wait, not that important. At least at the moment it isn't. Because to you, there is no such need for things like a name, nothing is needed.
You are 10 years old, why would you need anything? It's not like you are some boy genius or anything. Well, you don't even know what a boy genius is.
All you know right now is, that your mother is becoming queen. Whatever that means.
She looks really pretty in her big stupid dress. You wear a stuffy suit.
She walks down the velvety purple carpet the servants laid down just this morning and smiles to the priest waiting for her at the end. The sun shines through the stained glassed window in the pattern of a checker-board battle field that reminds you of the bed-time stories Bro used to tell you when you were younger.
The priest speaks words you don't understand, and your mother bows to him, staying slightly bent over so he can place the silver and gold dotted crown atop her softly curled blonde hair.
You still don't know why you have to be wearing the stupid stuffy suit anyways. Pulling on the ends of the puffy red sleeves, you try to rip through the fabric to try and let some air into the suit. You feel like a stuffed toy.
Bro said it was important, so you try to handle it.
Bro says a lot of things are important.
You look over at him from the corner of your eye and watch as he does the same with his own puffy orange sleeve. You smile slightly knowing that you aren't the only one dealing with the frustrations of the suit you are both forced to wear.
"Prince David?" a small voice asks from beside you.
Look to the left, you notice a boy with shaggy black hair and deep red eyes. You bow slightly to him and motion for him to speak.
He wears a simple dress shirt without the jacket, paired with pants that look too big to fit on his slender hips but somehow manage to stay around his waist. Your eyes flit down to the shoes he wears, and notice he wears leather-bound shoes with the laces missing.
"My name is Karkat, I am twelve years of age, and I have been assigned as your knight." he explains, taking a bow of his own.
You look back up at his face the moment he speaks, slightly embarrassed to have gotten so distracted by his clothes.
"Knight? Since when do I need a knight?" you scoff at him. He shrugs and turns to watch the rest of the ceremony.
You can't help but notice the way his hair falls around his face. Or how the darkness of his hair contrasts the bright red of his eyes.
You have never in your life seen such beautiful red eyes.
Your own eyes are hideous, which is the reason they are hidden behind shades.
Usually, you hate the color red, but for some reason on this boy the color is much more pretty.
"Sire?" he asks, having noticed your staring, most likely.
You shake your head and turn whatever attention you have left to the crown laying lightly on your mothers head.
You will have to ask Bro about Karkat later, you decide.
...
"David Elizebeth Strider." Karkat warns, probably already starting to count down from ten in his head.
"Karkat Asshole Vantas." you mock back. You even go as far as to throw a pillow at his face.
You miss, and Karkat lunges forward to take a hold of the soft cotton blankets surrounding you.
"Get the fuck up!" he yells. You stick your tongue out at him and tug the blankets back over your body.
Today is a rather cold day, and you wish to spend it in bed, thank you every much.
"You cannot lazy around all day, asshole, get the fuck out of bed." he growls at you when you try to shield your face from the light streaming from your window.
The curtains that used to hang over the window have been ripped to shreds, most likely by your stupid knight.
He is a pain, you swear.
A pain that you love.
One that is turning 18 in a matter of two weeks.
You are planning something very special for his birthday, and he is going to hate you for it.
Well, you are pretty sure he is going to hate you for it.
"DAVID ELIZABETH STRIDER GET THE FUCK OUT OF BED." he screeches, throwing the covers off of you and flipping you off the bed all together.
"Geez, I was gonna get up." you tell him from the floor, noting that the wood could use to be swept. You make a note to ask the staff to take care of that as you close your eyes for a moment and rest.
It is cold on the floor. Even colder then it was on the bed without the covers.
You hear him let out a sigh, and you push your upper body up so you can see over your bed.
He stands next to your bed, holding his head in his hand and shaking it in exasperation.
A cloud moves from in front of the sun, and bright light streams into the room, illuminating Karkat's form. His armor twinkles like stars and your eyes glance lower.
He's not wearing his full uniform, you realize. He wears the chest plate, fitted in silver to match his form, and a pair of leggings he likely got from his uncle at their clothing store. The tight fitting cloth strains against his skin when he shifts to move, and you feel your face heat.
He's really something.
Straightening into a sitting position, you pout and glare at him through your shades. He can't see your glare, this you know, but he knows its there. Having spent the past six or so years with you, he has become accustomed to the random Strider Shenanigans that happen throughout the castle.
He chuckles lightly and throws your pillow back at you, hitting you square in the face. Smiling, you place the pillow back on your bed and pull on your hair as you stand. It needs to be cut, it's been getting too long, but you could care less about that right now.
Karkat glares at you, tossing your shoes in your general direction.
"Get dressed." he orders, going over to where you keep your clothes. He pulls out a pair of pants and a dressy shirt and throws them over your face as he walks by.
Taking them off your face, you smile and him and make grabby motions with your hands.
"Give me a bath first." you tell him, pitching your voice up a few notes to sound more childish. He glares back at you before responding.
"I'm a knight, not your fucking maid, clean yourself." he grumbles, turning and walking out the door of your room.
The door closes softly behind him and you can't help but smile.
He really is something.
Only the chest-plate that bears your families crest reminds you that he's not the princess you're supposed to get married to in the next few months.
Shiny dark hair frames a sun-kissed face with darkened freckles dotting over his nose. Dark eyes stare back at you every time you look up at him. he watches over you...sort of.
He protects you, shields you with his life.
What you would give to do the same.
Shaking your head at yourself, you look down at the clothes still resting in your hands. Pulling the shirt over your bear chest, you smile down at the frilly garment before standing to slip into the pants.
You decide to skip the shoes, because you hate wearing them anyways.
Walking out the door, you find Karkat still waiting for you, leaning against the opposite wall and resting, if only for a moment. His dark red eyes snap open the moment you step within an inch out of your door.
"You ready yet, Princess?" he asks, bowing respectively before straightening out and motioning for the two of you to get going.
"I feel gorgeous, what do you think?" you retort, smiling as you follow him down the oak wood stairs that lead to the rest of the castle.
"Peachy." he mutters back.
Smiling again, you slip past him and make a run for it. He shouts after you, starting his own hastened descent and you just laugh at his reaction. You love it when he gets like this.
You slide down the banister of the stairs, catching one of the maids off guard and eliciting a scream from her. This only spurs you on to cause more destruction.
"Dave! STOP THIS AT ONCE!" he screeches, chasing after you and nearly running over a maid coming up the stairs. You look back at him and laugh again, only to run face first into something hard that smells like birch trees.
Looking up your smile breaks into a full blown grin when you see the stone-set face of your Bro Strider.
Wrapping your arms around his neck and your legs around his torso you cling to him and shout in his ear.
"BRO THE HELP IS BOTHERING ME AGAIN!"
He doesn't flinch from your loud voice, and only grunts as a reply before shoving you off of him. He smooths out his suit from where your body created wrinkles in the expensive fabric. Bro gives you a pat to the head and a nod to Karkat before flash-stepping away.
You know he's aware of the fact that you are joking, and you watch as his orange suit fades away into the distance of the castle.
You curl your toes into the soft red carpet beneath your feet for a moment and let out a sigh, knowing your older brother is gone for the day, and that you might not see the stoic douche-bag for a long while.
You smile back at Karkat after a few seconds and dash off once more, aiming towards the kitchens for breakfast.
You would flash-step there, to save yourself the trouble of darting past the various servants and maids that are tending to their jobs. But you have two reasons for not doing so. One being that its fun to cause problems, and the other being that you like having Karkat chase after you every once in a while.
It feels like the good old days.
...
Karkat comes to a stop shortly after you do in the kitchen, huffing slightly from the over-exertion from running so far.
You smile down at him and he glares back, causing you to laugh slightly.
This boy has you crazy in love.
You steal a muffin from a basket sitting at the edge of the island in the middle of the kitchen. The maids pretend not to notice, having gotten tired of trying to get you to stop taking food. Karkat rolls his eyes and steals himself a muffin as well.
Biting into the blueberry goodness reminds you of when you were a little kid sitting around the living room with Bro and Roxy. Karkat sat next to you, no matter where you were. Because he had to.
You set the muffin down after that one bite and flash step out of the room.
Karkat is turning eighteen soon, you know that, but what does that mean for you? He is legally allowed to quit his position as a knight when he turns eighteen. You just really hope he doesn't.
The knight you are thinking about rushes up behind you just then, huffing again and glaring at you with those gorgeous red eyes.
"I asked you to stop fucking doing that." he grumbles, standing up straight once more and leaning against a nearby wall.
You smirk at him and flash step a few feet away, watching as he rolls his eyes and follows.
"Stop doing what?" you slyly ask, flash stepping another few feet.
"Dave, come on. Quit it." he responds.
Deciding to humour him, you comply with his request and wait for him to catch up to you.
"So what's the plan for today?" you ask after a pause that he takes to gather his breath.
"No plans for today, not that I know of yet at any rate." his response bothers you somewhat. It's not really the words he says, it's the way he says it.
He looks to the right, avoiding your face as he speaks, and this bothers you.
"Hey, what's wrong?" you take a step towards him, taking note of how he further avoids your face and even steps back.
"Nothing, Sire."
Oh hell no. You told him a long time ago to stop calling you 'Sire'. Some real shit is about to hit the floor.
You take hold of his chin with your hand and pull his face inches from yours, glaring into his bright red eyes as you try to figure out just what the fuck is going on.
He sputters and pushes you away from him, which sparks a small flame of joy in you.
A joy that is short lived, as in that moment you look past Karkat and find your older brother standing in the doorway, holding war amour and you realize what's happening.
"No." the word is out of your mouth before you even register your mouth moving to form it.
"No, what?" Your brother asks, stepping forward and taking Karkat by the shoulder.
"I...was going to tell him your highness..." Karkat mumbles pitifully. You glare up at Dirk and snatch Karkat's hand, tugging him into your arms and flash stepping away from your brother.
"You cannot. Take. Him. From. Me." you punctuate each word with a stomp of your foot. Somewhat childish but you don't fucking care. Karkat is yours and there's no way in hell Dirk is taking him from you.
"Dave...I have to." Karkat whispers from your arms.
You look down and find him staring back at you with determined eyes.
"I...have to make it up to my father...and I promise I'll be back." he tells you, starting to cry slightly.
You kind of always knew this would happen, deep down. You were just hoping maybe Karkat would change his mind.
But no, ever since his father went off to fight in the war, Karkat has been trying so hard to be the best knight he ever could, to make his father proud. When they recieved news of his father passing in battle, Karkat was crushed, and vowed to take his place the moment he could.
His elder brother ran into battle, sword swinging, and raging fire ablaze. He too, was lost in the pits of hell that was called war.
Now it was Karkat's turn, and you were breaking apart.
You can't lose him now, not when you're was so close to confessing your love.
As the shock finally wore off your nerves, you looked back down at Karkat to find the knight no where to be found.
Screaming, you find yourself running through the castle to get to the large doors that lead outside.
You find Karkat in full armor standing next to a pale grey horse, and Dirk on his own dark brown.
Rushing over you pull him back into your arms for a hug before you forcefully take his face in your hands and crush your lips into his. You don't care if he doesn't feel the same, this might be your last chance to kiss him. Tears roll down your cheeks as that thought consumes you.
It takes only seconds for you to realize that Karkat is also crying, and holding the back of your neck as he pushes his lips back into yours.
Pulling away, you stare at him in confusion.
"I'm sorry." is the only answer you get before Karkat kisses you again, softly, before mounting his horse and riding off with your brother.
You sink to the ground and moan in sorrow.
What if he really never comes back? What if you never see him again?
...
The castle notices the change. Everyone does. Clouds of rain and sorrow begin to form around the kingdom the longer the war rages on. A neighboring kingdom has sent it's bravest and strongest knights to challenge the kingdom of Skia, ruled over by King Dirk and Queen Roxy.
You glare out the window in your room, looking far past the castle walls and wondering where your beloved knight is right now. What he's doing.
If he's thinking about you too.
His birthday was last month, and you were planning on setting him free, and proposing. Of course, this kingdom has never quite discriminated the love of same gendered people. It was, however, looked down upon for a noble blood to marry someone of the same gender, much less a lesser blood.
That thought forces you to blink back the tears started to pool in your eyes.
Karkat was stronger then that, you know that.
Your asshole of a knight would be back.
"Sire?" a servant called from the doorway to your room. You look over to where the young man was bowed in respect.
"What is it?"
"They've returned."
You gather all the mana you have, and flash-step down the stairs and to the front gates of the castle. Wobbling from the use of your magic to that degree your world spins, and you nearly falling forward. Only to be caught by two arms that then gave way under the stress of your weight and you both fall to the ground.
"Fuck." a familiar voice curses below you, and tears once again begin to pool in your eyes.
In your excitement, you throw your glasses to the side, having broken them in the fall. You hold Karkat's face in your hands and he looks up at you with wide red eyes.
You smile brightly at your knight and crush your lips into his again. His arms go around your waist and you cry as you smile and kiss the love of your life.
He's home.
...
*vomits*