Chapter One (Karkat's POV)

I was an orphan. And I don't say "was" because I was adopted. I say "was" because today I was too old to be in custody of the orphanage anymore, as today was my eighth wriggling day, or in human terms, my eighteenth birthday. And of course the very day of my birthday, the caretaker of the establishment practically shoved me out, leaving me alone with the money I'd saved up over the years from various chores and small jobs around town, like mowing lawns and raking leaves. It wasn't much. It would hardly pay for an apartment for more than a couple of months. After that, I would be completely screwed. I sneered back at the building that was now classified as my old home, eyes narrowed in anger. The caretaker, Mrs. Harris, had never liked me. Not at all. And who would, honestly? I was nothing but a whiny, incompetent burden on all of them. I was always picky about food, I was mean to the other kids, and I was a mutant.

The orphanage was one that housed only trolls, the human orphanage farther away. They were different places because trolls didn't look at humans as their equals. The Alternian race had taken over the planet earth over a century ago, and they were none too peaceful about it. There was a great amount of bloodshed, but the Alternians had superior technology and military, and soon the humans were brought to their knees, many slaughtered, and many more subjected to slavery. However, a few decades later, the ruler of the Alternians, Her Imperious Condescension, was assassinated by a rebel group of humans, ending her rule and starting one less harsh, but still far from peaceful. The new ruler was inexperienced, and lacked the iron fist to keep her kingdom in check, and her forces slacked, thus weakening the empire. The humans took this chance to wage a war against the Alternians, eventually winning enough battles to intimidate the queen.

To halt any further battling between the species, she agreed to sign a document, which demanded the stop of human slavery and ruthless murder. The queen agreed, but would negotiate no further, still looking upon humans as inferior. Thus, humans were spared the indignity of being forced to work for the trolls, but they in no way held any rights politically or economically. The two races were segregated, and humans were not allowed many of the privileges the trolls were given.

However, even only among the trolls, there was even more segregation by way of the hemospectrum, a class system that ranked their place in society. The hemospectrum was based entirely on the blood color of the trolls, a deep, burgundy red being the lowest class, and then following the pattern of the color spectrum to end at the highest class, a bright fuchsia. The only ones to inherit fuchsia blood, however, were the main line of the royal family, which consisted of only two people. Those people were the queen herself, and her kind, compassionate daughter, Feferi. There had of course been a king, but he had perished in the long wars that had taken many other lives alongside his.

The rebellion that had killed the previous queen had never died out after the assassination. Instead, it thrived in the shadows, stealing from the Alternians and stirring up trouble wherever possible. They had a nasty relationship with the queen. She founded a group to track down these rebels and kill them, but by that time, they had become masters of hiding. They were almost impossible to track down, and even in the event that they were found, they would put up a vicious fight to the death. They would not go down easily.

I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my black jacket, adjusting the strap of my backpack and exhaling deeply, glancing one last time back at the tall building just going out of my line of vision as I rounded a corner. It wasn't like anyone would miss me. As I said, I was nothing but a burden and a freak of nature. I stopped in front of a building, grabbing a newspaper from the box in exchange for a dollar. I tugged my jacket sleeves downward as people passed me by, more out of a force of habit than a conscious motion. I was used to hiding my arms. I'd had to. I had made a stupid mistake when I was younger, and I knew it. It was never the answer, of course, but I'd had nothing to lose, or so I thought, and I felt so lonely, and so hurt, that I needed an alternative to the emotional pain. So my last option was a razor blade in the shower, letting the mutated candy red liquid swirl down the drain with my matching tears. No one ever found me, but I stopped one day when I accidentally cut too deeply, and it wouldn't stop bleeding for a while. I panicked, but I knew I couldn't go to the others, so instead I grabbed a red towel and wrapped it tightly around my wrist. Obviously I hadn't cut too far because I was able to stop the bleeding eventually, though I was dizzy as I left the bathroom, hiding the towel under my bed for the time being. I went to sleep, and the next morning I snuck the towel in with the trash so no one saw the blood when they washed it. I had been too scared to cut again, and I realized what I'd almost done. I had almost died. I could very well have died if I had pressed the blade any deeper, and the thought terrified me.

My eyes skimmed over the few apartments open to lower class trolls in the paper. They were all cramped, old places, but they were better than nothing, and they weren't ridiculously expensive. Still, I'd have to get a job in order to keep the place, because my money would not last long. I would have to be careful of what I bought. I would only get the essentials. Food, water, and hygienic supplies. And food wise, I would have to stick with the cheap stuff, which probably meant ramen most nights. I read the address of one of the cheaper ones and folded the newspaper up, stuffing it into my bag with a sigh. I guess it wasn't all bad considering I was getting out of the awful environment of the orphanage, but still, it sucked to be home hunting on my birthday. And it sucked knowing that if I failed to get an apartment, I slept on the street tonight. And since that wasn't exactly the most comfortable place to stay, I just hoped that I'd land a place.

I managed to catch the bus before it left and payed the fee to ride, sitting near the back of the vehicle. The bus was almost empty at the time, so I didn't have to worry about getting annoyed by noise. And without the distraction the ride went by quickly, and soon I was stepping off the bus and walking the next block through the city. Around me was a mixture of faces. Orange horns of varying shapes and sizes moved around, carried by dark patches of hair. Mixed in with this were fewer heads of lighter hair, falling down into pink faces. It was no wonder there weren't many humans walking the streets. Trolls were known to be a violent race by nature; of course I hadn't inherited that trait strongly, which I was grateful for. It was very far from uncommon to hear of humans being mugged, and even killed by trolls. Sometimes even members of their own species were attacked and found leaking colorful blood onto the ground in an alleyway, or an empty suburban street. It was a terrible world, filled with fear and bitterness, and those very things could be felt in the air, lingering in the cities and towns around the world. There were plenty of people, trolls and humans alike, who wanted unity and peace, but their optimism was not nearly enough to relieve the hatred polluting the air.

I reached the line of rundown apartment buildings on that thought, striding toward the rental office. I opened the door to the building and walked up to a man at a desk, scribbling with a pen on paperwork. He looked up at me, adjusting the oval shaped glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. His black hair was slicked back, and his horns sticking straight up before turning in the slightest curve to face outwards at the tips. He frowned at me, mustard yellow eyes staring into my bright red ones. I fidgeted slightly and grimaced. "Uh-I…I'd like to get an apartment, sir." I managed, his eyes narrowing in return. "I'm afraid that's impossible." He growled at me, and I swallowed a lump in my throat. Oh please don't let it be why I think it is. "Well why not?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even. I didn't think this was going to go very well.

"Because we don't house your kind, mutant." I openly flinched, disappointment welling in my chest. "W-what?" I breathed, disbelief dripping from my voice despite the fact that I'd had a feeling this would happen anyways. I had hoped it wouldn't, though. "You heard me. Now get off my property, filth." I clenched my hands into fists, anger bubbling in me, glaring viciously at him.

"Fine." I spat bitterly. "You're running a piece of shit anyways. Who'd even want to stay here?" I spun on my heel and exited the building, slamming the door hard behind me. Quickening my pace, I pushed my way through the crowd, eyes burning with the threat of tears spilling over. I reached a less crowded area and leaned against the wall of a bakery, wiping at my eyes with the sleeves of my jacket, my jaw clenched and shoulders trembling in attempt to keep myself from crying. Damn that man for saying that. I got enough of that bullshit from the kids at the orphanage, let alone some man I didn't even know. I had known, of course, that this sort of thing would happen. I had prepared myself over the years, but it still hurt. It still made me feel like garbage.

Suddenly, something touched my shoulder and I jumped, turning my head to meet emerald green eyes. A young human girl stood, looking up at me. She wasn't shorter than me by much, and her choppy black hair reached her waist, her lips formed into a grimace. If I saw right, she had little buck teeth peeking out. She slid her big, goofy round glasses farther up her nose and looked up at me, eyebrows furrowed into a worried expression. When she spoke, her voice was soft and concerned. "Are you okay?"

I stared at her for a moment, eyes widened slightly in surprise, and eyebrows creased in confusion. This human was worried about me? About a troll? Was she serious? "I…uh…" I stuttered, mouth opening and closing and starting to resemble a fish out of water. I shook myself internally and swallowed. "Y-yeah. I'm fine. Don't worry about it." I replied gruffly, trying my best to regain my composure and at least look fine, even though I wasn't really.

The girl's frown immediately flipped and a grin split her face. "Well that's good!" God, how dim was this girl? She actually believed me? "I was worried you were hurt or something." She giggled and held her hand out. "I'm Jade. Jade Harley. Who're you?"

I hesitantly took her hand, which she then shook vigorously. "I'm Karkat." I replied, wrenching my hand out of her firm grasp, pretty sure she almost took my elbow out of its socket with that shake. "Is there a last name to that?" She continued grinning, lacing her fingers together behind her back.

I frowned and averted my gaze. "Sure, but that doesn't matter." I said. I hated the look on people's faces when they knew I was an orphan. Every time I'd go outside, they'd all look at me with pity. It pissed me off, and I didn't want some human I'd just met to look at me like that, too. Human. I had just used that term automatically, without even thinking about it. But she wasn't just a human, no human was. They were people, just like trolls, and I hated the way trolls looked down on them. And here I was, in my own mind, thinking of her as simply a human. I knew the pain of being different, being looked down on, and so I had never once looked down on humans. I looked down on anyone who did. "Anyways, what are you doing out here anyways?" I asked, attempting to draw the subject away from surnames. "No offense, but isn't it dangerous for such a small human to be out by herself on the streets?"

She only laughed at me, and I eyed her curiously. "Isn't it just as dangerous for such a small troll to be out by himself?" I glared at her, growling. "I am not small. I am a God damn adult, I'll have you know."

"Oooohh." She grinned, shifting her weight between her feet. "An adult, huh? Well, aren't you just the big strong hero? An adult." She giggled harder, continuing. "So sorry I doubted your maturity and strength, Karkitten."

I growled at her again. "Oh, would you shut up? And wait, back up. Did you just fucking call me Karkitten!?"

She burst into laughter, doubling over and holding her sides. I stared down at her in astonishment. What the hell did she think she was laughing at? A few trolls walking down the sidewalk stopped and stared at us, murmuring quietly and grinning. My face heated up in embarrassment and I groaned. "I'm leaving."

As I walked away, I heard Jade yell through her laughter. "See you later, Karkitten!" I only frowned harder and turned the corner, leaving her to laugh by herself on the sidewalk. Shaking my head, I unzipped my back pack, my stomach empty, and pulled out a peanut butter sandwich. Opening the bag, I stuffed the sandwich in my mouth as I reached in and pulled out the newspaper again before zipping my bag back up. I took the sandwich out of my mouth and chewed on the mouthful as I unrolled the paper. Once I had found another cheap one, I read the address and started towards the area, setting a brisk pace. I wanted to get this done quickly.

Five different apartments later, I was out of options and the sun was setting behind the tall buildings of the city, pink and orange streaks painting the sky. Every damn place turned me down, all because I was a mutant. I glanced up at the darkening sky. I was running out of time. If I didn't find somewhere soon, I'd be sleeping in an alleyway, which was extremely dangerous.

I sighed as I realized that I might end up having to stay at a motel. If they'd even accept me. I grimaced at the thought of being shot down again and stuffed the paper back in my bag. My shoulders sagged as I began walking again, feet scuffing on the ground. I was tired, and the nearest motel was a few blocks away. But it was my only option left, so I had no choice but to keep going.

After the first block, I glanced over at an alleyway. I'd been in this area before when it was my turn to run errands back at the orphanage. Going through there, and cutting across a few more alleys could really cut back on time, and I could get to the motel in half the amount of time it would take me otherwise. I looked up at the sky, the pink and orange almost gone now, and the first few stars shining in the darkness. Night was when most muggers were out, and when the alleys were most dangerous. If I cut through, I could chance a bad encounter.

Then again, I'd cut through there a million times before, and nothing had ever happened. I doubted anyone was even near here right now, anyways. Not many people came through this area at this time of day. And besides, I was exhausted from running all over town all day. Getting there faster was very tempting.

Before I knew what I was doing, my feet were moving towards the alley, careful to make sure no cars were coming as I crossed the street. I hopped onto the other sidewalk and slipped into the alley. I felt my heartbeat pick up, and I wondered what was getting to me so badly. Nothing was going to happen. Just calm down, Karkat. Calm down. I let out a long breath and picked up my pace, making my feet hurt more, but I hardly noticed the pain as I kept my eyes trained ahead on the other side of the alley.

My shoulders relaxed as I reached the sidewalk, and I slowed down a bit. I knew nothing would happen. It was just an empty alleyway, no big deal. I was fine, and there was nothing to be afraid of. At least, I thought so, before I felt a hand cover my mouth and another grab my arm.

I gasped and let out a muffled noise into the hand as I was pulled backward. My wide eyes flitted down at the hand holding my arm, then up to another man standing in front of me. I jumped at his sudden appearance, but I didn't have long to react as I felt an agonizing pain tear through my side.

A muffled scream escaped my throat into the hand, and I was dropped to the ground, my vision already starting to blur. I only made out shapes. A glint of silver, now glistening with bright red. Figures in black moving around me. I felt a tug at my shoulder, then another, and then felt the strap of my bag slide from my shoulder, and the weight of my bag was gone. Mt breaths were ragged as everything started to get darker. There were mumbles, and then they stopped at a scuff on the ground. A low rumbling sound filled my ears, and a vicious bark split the air, and I groaned at the noise and the pain I felt. Feet scuffed on the ground and faded, and a dark figure shifted towards me, stooping low to the ground in front of me as everything went black. And as I lost consciousness, I wondered why this was happening to me. Why today of all days? Whatever the reason, it was happening whether I liked it or not. And I didn't. Happy Birthday, me.

AN: Okay, so I've basically put Frost on hiatus even though I pretty much just started it. I just don't really have any inspiration or motivation to write it currently. Every time I sit down and try to write more, I somehow manage to find every distraction in existence. Hmm what's on TV? I should check my Facebook. I should go not do my homework. Do penguins like peanut butter? What is the meaning of life? I just can't seem to focus on it, so here's more Davekat. I know, I've already done two Davekat fanfictions, but hey, what can I say? I'm obsessed. So I'm sorry about Frost, but here's this! I honestly think this has turned out better than Frost anyways, and I've been wanting to write this more, so hopefully that keeps up and I can keep up a steady flow of updates. But I make no promises because euurgh motivation runs from me every time. So anyways, I hope you enjoy this story, and I thank you for your patience! Until the next update, stay beautiful.