Hi! This is the first thing I've published in a while, and my first proper contribution to the Homestuck fandom. This is going to be a series of oneshots detailing the lives of the Ancestors. Due to my personal biases, it will most likely focus on the Signless and his followers, Mindfang and the Summoner's rebellion, and occasionally bits of Redglare. The oneshots will not go in order, but I'll normally say which ones they go between. I have quite a few already written, but, as they were written out-of-order, some information will be restated. I will try to update this series as often as possible, but don't expect them to come more than a couple times a week.

Note: Due to the nature of this story, there will be lots of OCs! If you do not have the patience for OCs or cannot stand them, please try and read this anyways! I promise I'll focus on canonical characters and their relationships, and to never name an OC unless they will provide some relevance to the plot (or what little plot there is). Also: the rating is for violence, swearing, and rape (all for obvious reasons). While there won't be any explicit sex, I will imply it very heavily. All canonical pairings are included, but there will be a few extras littered in there.

Another note: This is dedicated to my friend Alex (if she ever finds this) for lots of reasons but mostly just because she's amazing and her art is wonderful.

Timewise: This goes after chapter six (where we meet young Dolorosa). This goes before chapter two (where the Dolorosa and Kankri dance). (PS: If you want to read these in order, check the chapter list! There's a number next to the chapter title; follow those numbers to read it in order!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Homestuck or any of the characters here; they belong to Andrew Hussie.

Word count: 1,275

As she had been for the past couple nights, the Dolorosa awoke to the sound of wailing. She groaned and buried her head deeper into her arms, certain that it was far too early for any normal person to be up. The wailing became more insistent, and her arms did little to keep it from piercing her ears. I would never have rescued him if I had known he would be this much trouble, she thought sulkily. Almost immediately, she felt guilty for even thinking such a thing.

Sitting up, the Dolorosa looked around for her grub. He was squeezed against a rock and the wall of their current cave, crying for attention. She surged to her feet, trying to blink away the headache she could feel forming, and walked over to the little grub. "Hello, little one," she murmured, leaning down and picking him up.

The grub stopped crying immediately, choosing to instead insist, "Hun-gee! Hun-gee!"

The Dolorosa said soothingly, "I know you're hungry, little one." Her own stomach growled and she grimaced. Still holding the grub, she kneeled down to inspect their food storage. There wasn't much left. The Dolorosa sighed heavily and fed what little there was to the grub, resigning herself to a hungry day until she could figure out how to get more food.

The grub, like he did most of the time, made little noises as he ate hungrily. Her lips quirked into a smile at the funny sounds, but that quickly vanished when her stomach growled again. The mutant grub finished eating in record time, and he burst out, "Hun-gee!"

She patted his head. "I know, little one." She chewed her bottom lip, wondering how she was going to find more food. Grubs ate a surprising amount.

As a jadeblood, she had spent most of her childhood underground, learning to care for the Mother Grub. As such, she had no idea how to hunt, much less how to skin and gut a creature. She didn't know how to tell which berries were edible and which would kill her in a very painful way. She had some money left, but not enough to last them indefinitely.

"I suppose I'll just have to go into the city and buy some food," she mused aloud, "We'll figure out the rest when we run out again, alright?"

The grub let out a wail, realizing that he wasn't going to be fed anytime soon. The Dolorosa rocked him back and forth in her arms, one of the tricks she had figured out to get him to quiet down. The grub's wails grew softer, but they didn't vanish completely. She checked one of the pockets in the skirt of the dress she had worn ever since leaving the Mother Grub's caverns. Enough money to buy at least a a couple day's worth of food, maybe more if she found the right vendors and spent it wisely.

"How long has it been since I found you?" she asked, thinking back. Were the drones still after her? Either way, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to go into the city wearing jade green and sporting her symbol.

Grabbing the black sash that she'd stolen when she'd left, she wrapped it firmly around herself and the grub, securing him against her chest. He mumbled incoherently and struggled. She tapped his nose as she looked around for something else to wear. "You're cranky this morning, aren't you?" Of course, she didn't have any clothes that weren't jade green.

The grub scowled as her, but he obviously hadn't understood what she had said. He had a faint grasp of language, and could generally repeat words back to her if he'd heard them enough. She sighed. What on Alternia was she supposed to wear to go into the city? Maybe she should use the money to pay somebody to teach her how to hunt instead. That would be a good idea.

Her grub began to wail, but she was able to recognize that he merely wanted attention. She patted his hair and murmured, "Stop being so cranky, little one."

She still had several sheets of black and jade cloth left, as well as her sewing kit. She had to use a color, or else she would be caught immediately as an outcast. The grub still hadn't ceased his wailing, and she moved outside, telling him again, "You're cranky this morning. Cranky." The tree nearby had several large leaves that were a lighter shade than her blood color. If she cut them right, she could probably use them and the cloth she had to make something to wear. She would need to buy supplies as well. The Dolorosa sighed. This was turning into a lot of trouble.

The grub still hadn't let up.

She poked his nose, shushing him. "Stop being cranky," she repeated.

He stopped crying, although he glared at her with resentful eyes. He was still hungry, but he'd have to get used to that. "No kankri," he muttered.

"You're very krankri," she replied, not really thinking about what she was saying.

"No kankri!" he insisted.

"Of course, little one."

She tried to pull off one of the leaves and nearly landed flat on her back, discovering too late that their stems were much stronger than she thought. Biting back several choice words, she hissed angrily. Her grub began to yowl. She asked, "Do you want to be let down?" He quieted, recognizing that she was asking a question. When it was clear that he didn't understand her, she said, "Down?"

He hesitated before nodding. She untied the sash and warned, "Don't wander away. Stay near me, alright?"

He didn't reply, crawling away towards the cave. She called after him, "You're still being cranky!"

He stopped crawling away and sat there, looking mulishly at her. "No kankri," he repeated. She laughed under her breath and, now free to move, climbed the tree to hack off leaves with her dagger. Once she'd gathered enough, she retreated to the cave, gave her grub a couple of rocks to play with, and began to sew. She was halfway done when he interrupted her. "Hun-gee."

"I know, little one." She'd been half-tempted to eat the very leaves she was sewing with. "I'm almost done."

He crawled over to her, and she hastily moved the needles out of his reach. Caring for a grub was difficult, and she was operating on very little sleep, but she wouldn't give him up for the world. "Yes kankri?" he asked.

"Very kankri," she murmured, petting him once before turning her attention back to her work. He milled around her for a bit, bored. He crawled up her leg once, but she merely plopped him into the basket with all of her thread and told him to wait there.

"Mama kankri," he mumbled through a mouthful of blue thread. With the ease of practice, she carefully extracted it from him mouth.

"You're kankri," she replied. Suddenly, she stopped. "Cranky." He shook his head.

"Kankri."

"Kankri. . . ." she mused, turning her attention completely away from her work. "You know . . . that might actually work."

He cocked his head, curious.

"You've needed a name for a while now. . . ." She laughed and scooped him up. "How do you like Kankri, my little grub?"

He wiggled his legs. "No Kankri!" She put him into her lap and tickled him, unable to stop grinning.

Kankri. It was perfect.

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