Where the heck was he? Fuck if he knows! One minute Karkat is sitting at a computer on a meteor in outer space arguing with Terezi and the next he's in the middle of a fucking desert with Sollux, Kanaya, and Nepeta. How the fuck was that even possible? She was dead! The four of them had been wandering through the desert, looking for some sign of civilization, and he was just about ready to do a fucking pirouette of the handle bars. Where the fuck were they!?
The flickering light of a campfire stopped him from exploding into a rather pointless rant. Nepeta was the first to respond to the acknowledgment of life. Jumping up an down she practically purred, "Look guys! People! Lets go say hi! Maybe they'll help us!" and with that, she zoomed of towards gog knows what. Or as she would put it, *ac ran towards the new camp fire at an amazing pace! Hopefurry, these new trolls would be nice and she would make some new furiends!*
Karkat, however, disapproved of the idea. "FUCK. NEPETA! WAIT! WE DON'T KNOw-" his screaming came to a stop when he realized that it was too late. Fantastic. Sollux sighed beside him. Apparently he was thinking the same thing.
"She Has The Right Idea." Kayana spoke up, earning a specultive look from the boys. "We Should Follow Her Anyways. Though Perhaps With Less Enthusiasm." The jade blood set off after the hyper cat girl at her own graceful pace. Begrudgingly, Karkat and Sollux followed.
Nepeta stood just outside the light of the campfire, her mouth wide and gaping. Kanaya and Sollux followed her example beautifully, as the three stared at the four trolls in front of them. Karkat just flew off the handle bars like a firecracker. It took a few seconds to comprehend what he was seeing but after that he was running around kicking up sand and screaming profanities, some rather creative for the hot headed munchkin. The other four adult trolls stared back, with only slightly less wonder. The four looked almost exactly like the younger trolls. They shared the same horns, the same fangs, the same hairstyles; all respectively of course. Before the four young trolls were figures of legends: the Dolorosa, the Psiioniic, the Disciple, and the Signless themselves. An unsaid question passed between all the trolls, old and young: What the hell?
Karkat return to the circle of bizare broke the silence. "HOW IS THIS FUCKING POSSIBLE!?" he screeched. "I MEAN. YOU-" He jabbed a finger at the Signless. "AND YOU'RE-" his finger swept across the other adults. "YOU WERE ONE THING BUT-" he turned to the still shocked Nepeta before turning for another round of flipping out.
Sollux grabbed the spazzing troll to stop him. "kk. chiill."
Of course, Karkat being Karkat, he grabbed Sollux by the shoulders and started shaking him. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHO THE FUCK THEY ARE!?" A sharp smack gave him back his senses.
"of cour2e II know who they are. II thiink we all know who everybody ii2. even np." And indeed she did, though she and her ancestor were locked in an open mouth stare down it seemed. Karkat chilled. If only a little bit.
Naturally, Kanaya and her ancestor were the first to actually compose themselves.
The Dolorosa started. "Hello..." she said cautiously. Between her current life with the Signless and the unbelievable amount of weirdness going on, she had every right to be cautious. Kanaya mirrored her wary look.
"Good Night." she said, just as careful as her ancestor. "We Are In A Bit Of A Situation. I Think That You Can Help Us." she said cooly. The Dolorosa narrowed her eyes, ever cautious.
Most of the trolls had calmed down and were at least accepting some of what was going on. The two Leiojons decided this was a pristine moment for a hug. The two lunged at each other and landed in a pile of hugs, purrs, and compliments. This warranted a glance from all the trolls, though most just shrugged it off as Nepeta/the Disciple just being Nepeta/the Disciple.
"We Would Be Happy To Help Of Course." the Dolorosa said back. And she meant it. They would help these young trolls. But she needed to make sure her little rag tag family would be safe. "But Why Do You Think We In Particular Can Help You?" she challenged just a bit. Family first.
The Disciple sat up, Nepeta snug in her arms. Together the two stared at the Dolorosa with those big cat eyes strategically designed to make you give them what they wanted. Nepeta's said 'won't you please help us?' While the Disciple's pleaded, 'Can I keep her?'
Karkat shuffled uncomfortably. He was a truly crappy leader. He was letting Kanaya deal with this rather than himself. But ever since he first got here, he felt eyes burning into him. Every time he looked up, his eyes led him to the Signless. The Signless sat on a dry piece of wood, unmoving, shrouded in his cloak which covered his face as well. Karkat couldn't see his ancestors eyes but he knew their candy red stare was glued on him. He was starting to feel like Equius.
With one swift motion, the Signless stood, drawing all eyes to him. "We are helping them." He announced in a strong voice. "No questions needed." This was directed at the Dolorosa. It was very obvious that the discussion was over. He gave a nod to the Disciple who immediately detached herself from her ancestor. The two trolls walked away into the shadows, no doubt going to talk about the newcomers. Karkat stared after them, a ball of ice in his stomac. That was his ancestor. He was supposed to finish what that troll had started. It felt impossible. How was he supposed to do that? He couldn't even keep a moiraillagence going. How could he ever dream of becoming that?
Conversation had started again and Kanaya and Nepeta were sitting in the sand around the campfire with the Dolorosa and the Psiioniic. Karkat planted himself between Sollux and Kanaya, keeping away from Nepeta like he usually did. The initial shock of everything was dying down and Karkat felt his face fall into the familiar scowl he almost always wore. The Psiioniic spoke up this time. "You seem two know who we are." The yellow blood smirked a bit and Karkat felt his face heat up, causing his scowl to deepen. "But who are you?" The lanky troll crossed his arms in front of his chest, awaiting an answer.
Sollux met his ancestors question. "II'm 2ollux. That's Kanaya." he jabbed a thumb in her direction. "Over there's Nepeta." his other hand motioned towards the olive troll who waved in responce. "And thiis moron is Karkat." His thumb redirected itself to point at the nubby troll.
"SPITSPONGE."
"Nook2ucker."
The Psiioniic broke into a laugh. A glare from the Dolorosa silenced them.
"It Is A Pleasure To Meet You All." The Dolorosa said, a new warmth in her voice. She had decided to trust the young trolls. They were so much like themselves it almost felt wrong not too. The younger trolls noted the change and the conversation settled into light subjects and jokes as the night widdled away.

69~69~69~69~69~69

Karkat twisted and turned in his sleep. They were sleeping in one of the extra tents that the Dolorosa carried with her. Just in case situations like this popped up. The problem was, he couldn't sleep. He had been lying in a weird state between awake and asleep for hours now while Sollux twitched beside him in his own private nightmare. Finally he gave up. Karkat stood up and started pacing in the small area. The girls were in a seperate tent and he wasn't really worried abut Sollux. From their time on the meteor, he had figured out that Sollux qualified as dead when he was asleep. Something just kept nagging and nagging in the back of his head. Like he had forgotten something really important.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flicker of red. But when he turned there was nothing. He growled in irritation and Sollux flipped onto his side, giving Karkat more room. He went back to pacing and when he turned again, his face went pale. In front of him stood Dave. At least a phantom image of him. The human was barely visible in the darkness of the tent, and flickering, as though the screen was glitching. Dave opened his mouth to say something and was actually easier to hear than Karkat thought he would be.
"... and I... fucked up... we... you ha..." He was loud enough to be heard but it was as if this signal wasnt working. Everything was choppy and incomplete. Everything except the last two words.
"Get Aradia."