Title: Candy Scented.

Summary: Unfamiliar, unbelievably silent and completely alone. Where had he chased her to? She knew nothing of this place. That is…until the candy scent washed over her. Oneshot.

Pairings: Karkat x Terezi.

Notes/Warnings: My first Homestuck fic. I'm relatively new to the fandom so I don't know all the terminology, except I know that this is a bit of a Sadstuck. I think. I dunno. Either way, enjoy Terezi's and Karkat's last moments together

Candy Scented.

The sound of her own heavy breathing filled Terezi's ears as she fled that spine chillingly eerie honking. Whatever had happened to Gamzee, it had completely consumed his mind, successfully shattering the last semblance of unity their little rag tag group had maintained throughout the game. She didn't know where the others were. Wandering around by herself, she'd heard the honking and, remembering Karkat's memo on the matter, instantly fled in an attempt to find somewhere safe to hide.

Where she'd ended up, she had little clue. There had been stairs, down, down, down several flights of stairs, and she wound up in some kind of vast room. The air smelled slightly soporish, and there were echoes off something that smelled vaguely of glass. Either way, she was glad she had her cane. The only thing to do was find another door to slip through. Gamzee surely wouldn't follow her this far.

…Would he?

Terezi took a few careful steps forward, her cane held in front of her, and let her senses probe forward. The only thing that told her she was still in the lab was the smell of stone. Other things overwhelmed that though. Chemicals, electrical wires, sopor, candy…

Candy.

Standing stock still, Terezi concentrated on that faint whiff, trying to find it again.

She didn't have to, though. A single sound cut sharp through the silence, like a thunderclap to her sensitive ears. Moreso because she knew exactly what it was and who had produced it.

A single cough, laboured, followed by another catch of that candy flavoured scent.

Karkat.

Terezi abruptly dropped her cane and proceeded haphazardly through the unfamiliar room to the source of the scent, managing to run into several inanimate objects in her rush.

Finally, she found him, out of breath and panicking slightly as the candy scent grew ever stronger. Karkat was bleeding. A lot.

"Karkat," she whispered, placing one hand on his slightly sweaty cheek and the other on his chest. She could feel his heart beating rapidly; a bad sign.

"Karkat…"

His only response was another cough, followed by haggard gasps of air. Either he was already out, or he was rapidly drifting towards unconsciousness.

There was a warm stickiness surrounding them both, and Terezi brought one hand up to her mouth, if only to reconfirm what she already knew.

Karkat's blood tasted sweeter than any of the other trolls. It was a strange juxtaposition, jarring with his brash nature almost comically, for who would have thought that such a quick tempered, hot headed troll like Karkat could have such saccharine blood flowing through his veins?

Then again, the higher bloods…Eridan especially, tasted somewhat bitter. It was intriguing, certainly. And Karkat had proven himself to be quite a fearless leader on several occasions. One wouldn't even think to guess his blood colour, assuming him to be of a higher class. He kept it so painstakingly secret, the other trolls had given up trying to find it out.

Terezi, of course, had known all along. His blood held almost the exact same scent as her red chalk. When he blushed, the candy scent lit his cheeks up in a way that was so much more appealing than any of the other trolls.

To her, anyway.

And now, here she was, blindly fumbling over his rapidly weakening body as her favourite candy scented blood spilled around them. It was cruel, unfair. Desperate tears sprang to her eyes as she tried to stem the stab wound, but she knew it was no use. Where Gamzee had come across something that could impale him, Terezi had no idea, but it was horribly frightening.

"Karkat," she whispered, brushing his sticky fringe off of his forehead. His eyes fluttered beneath her hands, and a groan escaped his lips, but that was the only response she got.

"You idiot," she said, fighting the turquoise moisture building up in her vacant eyes. She'd long since lost her shades, but didn't care. Survival was more important than aesthetics.

"Why did you go looking for him? Didn't you realise that he's got a lot more brute strength than you do? He took down Equius. Why did you think you could do anything…?"

Swallowing hard, she shuffled so she was lying beside him, head on his chest. His heartbeat was still fluttering, but it was beginning to slow, and his breathing was becoming softer and softer.

Another pained groan escaped Karkat's bloodied lips, and Terezi took his hand, squeezing it gently. He had to be in pain; there was no doubt about it. She couldn't see his wounds, but at the rate he was bleeding, they had to be severe. She didn't even know if he was lucid enough to understand her anymore. But still…at least she was there with him…right?

"It's funny," she murmured, "you always tried so hard to keep your blood hidden from us. And now it's everywhere…it's like Gamzee just wanted to add insult to injury. But at least…" a sob, which she choked back, "at least it's sweeter than anyone else's. Yours was always the sweetest, Karcrabstick." She gave a small, hollow laugh at the nickname.

"I was going to…when this was all over…I was going to ask you to be my matesprit…"

He must have been able to understand, because a choked noise came from his throat, and his eyes fluttered again. Terezi shooshed him softly, exhaling, teeth clenched. She wouldn't cry. No way. No one ever saw Terezi cry.

"Shoosh…" she murmured, brushing her fingers across his face. "Shoosh…it'll be okay. All over soon. Just stay still…"

The footsteps behind her didn't go unnoticed, but she elected not to turn and acknowledge them. The thick scent of mixed blood caught her nose, confirming her assessment of who they belonged to, and she took a deep breath, resting her head in the crook of Karkat's neck for a moment. His pulse was alarmingly soft now, almost nonexistent, and she knew he was slipping away.

Well. At least they wouldn't be apart for long.

"See you soon," she whispered to him, leaning down to press a soft kiss to his forehead. "Your blood was always my favourite."

And then, steeling herself, she turned to face the observer, her expression set, chin turned haughtily upwards.

"Alright then, Highblood," she said coldly. The tears were still obvious on her face, but that didn't matter anymore. Nothing did. Karkat was dead, his heart falling still as she turned to face his murderer, and nothing else mattered. There was no future anyway. They were all doomed. Jack Noir would kill them all, and if he didn't, Gamzee Makara would.

Honk.

"Go ahead. I'm not afraid of you."

She could tell he was smiling. A sadistic, bone chilling smile that didn't reach his crazed eyes.

The last thing she smelled was that candy scent.

The last thing she tasted was the sweetness of Karkat's skin.

The last thing she felt was the heat of his blood on her hands and face.

The last thing she heard was a cackle, and a single sentence.

"Welcome. To the dark carnival."

CB: Uh. Yeah. So how did I go? Review? c: