Hi! I'm back! :) So, I'm still working on the book I'd mentioned, but I've got five fanfictions ready to post now so I'm starting posting this one now.
This is one of the first fanfictions I started writing. I started writing it before I even wrote He was my ancestor. So I hope it's not too bad. It gets better the longer it goes. Please review and tell me what you think. :)
Everyone in the town called Alternia knew who Karkat Vantas was. Karkat lived in the large mansion that stood next to the Beforus Lake. When Karkat was ten years old his billionaire parents were both hit by a car and died. All their fortune went to Karkat and he had lived in the mansion ever since. His only company there were the many servants. His favorite maid, Kanaya, had raised him since his parents died. She was like a mother to him and she cared for him like he was her own son.
One day, sixteen-year-old Karkat Vantas was lying in bed on a dull Sunday morning. He was still in his pajamas and hadn't brushed his hair yet. But he had eaten breakfast. The day was so far just like every other day he'd had. But what he didn't know was that this day would change his life forever.
"My life is so dull." Karkat complained. Lately, it seemed like days just kept repeating themselves. Each day that week had been like the last one. Terezi was still visiting her cousin and wouldn't be back for another five days. And Karkat didn't have any other friends.
"You need to add variety into your life." Kanaya said. She was selecting some clothes for him to wear, since he had no fashion sense. Not that it really mattered; all his clothes were dark shirts and dark jeans.
"I got Alex to give me ice cream for breakfast." Alex was the name of the cook.
"And while you are adding variety, you can try eating healthier!" Kanaya scolded.
"Whatever." Karkat sat up and took the clothes Kanaya had selected.
"Thanks." he mumbled. Kanaya ruffled his hair and walked out his bedroom.
"Oh, here is and idea." she said, popping her head back in. "Why don't you change someone's life today?"
"How the fuck am I supposed to do that?"
"Think of something. And watch your language." Kanaya gave him a stern look before shutting the door. Karkat smiled and started to get dressed. Kanaya never stayed mad at him for long, but he made sure not to make her too mad. If he did she would temporarily confiscate privileges like internet or ice cream. Karkat loved ice cream.
When he was all dressed he half-heartedly brushed his impossible black hair and put on some deodorant. Then he pulled some mismatch socks on and went to get his shoes. He passed by the butler Gary. He said good morning to him and Gary nodded silently. He was always silent unless taking a phone call or if he couldn't avoid talking. Karkat found him rather strange.
Karkat's shoes were sitting by the door. They were also a dark colour. Karkat wasn't a Goth, he just happened to like dark colours. He stepped outside and blinked against the bright sunlight. The season was in between summer and fall, not quite either one. Karkat liked summer, and wished it had lasted longer. He didn't really like school because it was boring and pointless.
He walked down the front stairs and up to the gate. Dominic, the gatekeeper, was reading a book. He looked up and waved to Karkat as he approached.
"Heya, Karkat. Going out to seize the day?" he asked. He had a thick British accent that sounded out of place in the city.
"Kanaya said I should try to change someone's life." Karkat said. "I think that's her way of saying to me 'get up off your ass and go do something'."
"That sounds like Kanaya all right." He waved to Karkat as Karkat walked out to the town. Karkat didn't go to town much because there wasn't anything he could think of to do. He didn't really like reading, so the library was out. And he didn't want to go shopping because he didn't have anything else to buy. He already had everything he wanted. Being rich could make your life really boring.
So Karkat went to the gym to exercise until evening. And maybe he could change someone's life while he did that. The gym was run by a tall, muscular guy with thin black hair that went down to his shoulders and looked greasy. He also sweated a lot and wore cracked shades. He also liked to drink milk. His name was Equius. Karkat thought he was really weird.
Equius was off in the corner lifting weights. Karkat went over to the treadmills, ignoring Equius's loud counting of how many times he had lifted that weight.
"114…115…116…117…118…" Equius just kept lifting and lifting. It didn't really bother Karkat how many times Equius could lift some weights. What bothered him was how loud he would count. Of course, Equius's voice was naturally loud, but it still annoyed Karkat.
"Hi Karkat." There was another person at the treadmills. She had wavy hair that was such a dark brown it was almost black. Her skin was a dark tan and she was wearing a pink strapless shirt, a light blue Hawaiian skirt with bright yellow flowers and pink flip-flops. She looked like she had come right out of a Hawaiian postcard. Karkat didn't know her, but he was not at all surprised she knew who he was. Everyone knew him in Alternia, but he couldn't memorize every person. Sometimes he felt that wasn't a good thing.
"Hi." he said. He responded to people who talked to him, unless he was in a bad mood. Or if it was Equius. That guy could talk too much about strength and weights.
"I'm Feferi. I live by the theater."
"The one that never has anything good playing?" Karkat asked. Feferi laughed.
"Yeah, that's probably it. There's only one theater in Alternia anyway." Karkat just nodded and got on the treadmill next to her. He was already alright at running. But he needed a good way to kill time.
"Do you come here a lot?" Feferi asked.
"No, I just needed some way to kill time."
"Why here? There's a lot more to do in town."
"No there isn't." Karkat said. "I've done all I can everywhere else."
"Huh, the curse of the rich life?"
"Yeah, pretty much." They kept talking, discussing the weather, latest gossip and rumors and other small talk. Karkat didn't mind talking to people, but he wouldn't become their friend. Everyone in town just saw him as the rich kid and wanted to get closer to his wealth. But Terezi was different. She'd been his friend since they were three. She didn't care that he was wealthy.
Karkat and Feferi talked for a few hours. By the time it was noon Karkat had learned plenty of gossip, rumors and other things that he didn't really care about at all.
"Oh, I have to go now." Feferi said. "I need to meet my sister for lunch."
"Okay." Karkat said. Feferi handed him a folded up piece of paper.
"Call me sometime, 'kay?" Karkat nodded and she skipped off. Just like everyone else. Wanting to get close to his wealth. Too bad for her he already had a girlfriend. She just happened to be out of town.
Karkat decided to spend the rest of the day exploring the parts of the city he'd never been to. He'd never really seen the whole city, just all the places worth going to. So he walked down a street he'd never been on and kept going. He had a GPS with him, and a cell phone. He would be fine even if he got lost.
By late evening he was walking through some dark alleys. There were only some garbage, rats and some dead or blinking streetlights. Karkat wondered if he should use his money to get these places looking better. But it wasn't like there was anyone else there.
He was then proven wrong. Up ahead he could hear shouting. He felt his pants pocket to make sure his knife was there. Yup, it was there. He jogged as quietly as possible up to the noise. Now that he was closer he could also hear someone screaming. He ran around the corner and stopped.
A group of teenagers were circled around another teenager, who was hitting something with clubs. The teenager was easy to see because he was very tall. Not as tall as Equius, but close. He had wild black hair and his face was painted like a clown's. He was wearing a black t-shirt and his lips were black. Lipstick on a guy just seemed weird. But at that moment Karkat wasn't really concerned about the guy wearing makeup. He was more worried about what he was hitting, because whatever it was it was screaming. Karkat shoved the other guys out of the way.
The clown guy was hitting a kid. A little girl was curled up in a ball at his feet. She had brown hair that went halfway between her chin and shoulders and looked like it had been cut with a dull knife. She was wearing a large olive green coat that was many sizes too big for her.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?!" Karkat yelled, grabbing his knife. The clown guy looked up at him in surprise, but then smiled.
"Hey, aren't you Karkat?" he said. "That rich dude?"
"So what? Why are you hitting some little girl?!" The clown guy just shrugged.
"Bored. I'm Gamzee by the way." He held out his hand for Karkat to shake. Wow, even delinquents wanted to get closer to his wealth. Karkat cut Gamzee's palm with his knife. The other kids immediately drew weapons but Gamzee held his other hand up and they froze.
"Get out of here." Karkat said. He was trying to sound menacing, but he didn't really like his chance of fighting what he was pretty sure was at least ten kids.
"Sure thing, Karbro." Gamzee said. "You're cool, so I'll leave ya alone." He waved his cut hand and the other goons put their weapons away. "See ya 'round, best friend." Gamzee said, walking off. The other kids followed him until they had all left. Karkat glared at the direction they'd gone in. Best friend? Who did that kid think he was?
The little girl whimpered and Karkat was snapped back into reality. Karkat put his knife away and knelt down. He rolled the little girl over, making her cower. She was covering her face with her hands, which were bruised and some of her fingers were broken.
"Shh. It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." Karkat said. Green eyes peeked through her fingers. "The bad guys are gone. You'll be okay."
"Who are you?" The little girl asked. Her voice was very quiet.
"Karkat."
"Car cat?" The little girl asked.
"Uh, not like a cat in a car, it's one word and the 'c's are replaced with 'k's" Karkat explained. The little girl looked like she didn't really understand what he meant. "Well, what's your name?"
"Nepeta." The little girl said. She took her hands away from her face and Karkat gasped. Her face was bruised too, and both of her eyes were black and swollen. Her lips were cut and some blood was running out of her mouth. She must have had some teeth ripped out. Her nose was bleeding too, but miraculously didn't seem to be broken.
"Where do you live?" Karkat asked. He had to get her home or better yet to a hospital.
"Here." Nepeta said.
"What do you mean?"
"I live here, in this alley." Nepeta said.
"Don't you have a home?"
"This is my home." Homeless. She was a homeless child. She was so small Karkat guessed she must be four or five years old. If he ever saw that jerk Gamzee again he would kill him.
And then Karkat remembered what Kanaya had said to him that morning: Why don't you change someone's life today? This little orphan girl needed help. He could save her, change her life for the better.
So Karkat picked her up as carefully as possible. He took his GPS out of his pocket and checked his location. He wasn't too far from the mansion. About a twenty minute walk. Nepeta mumbled something and shivered. Karkat held her closer, careful not to squeeze her bruised body too tight. He began walking, following the map on the GPS. Nepeta's large coat dragged on the ground and Karkat almost tripped on it. He wrapped it around Nepeta and kept walking. Nepeta looked like she was exhausted, but she didn't fall asleep. Karkat wasn't sure if he was jostling her too much for her to sleep, or if she just didn't want to. Maybe she thought this was a dream.
When Karkat got home it was already night. Dominic was very surprised when he saw Karkat. But when he saw Karkat's face he kept quiet and didn't ask questions. Karkat had been told it was easy to tell when he didn't want to talk to someone just yet. He carried Nepeta up the stairs and Dominic opened the door for him, as Karkat couldn't ring the doorbell with the GPS in one hand and carrying Nepeta at the same time.
When he entered Gary gave him the usual nod and blank stare. Apparently he wouldn't show emotion even when Karkat entered carrying a bruised and dirty little girl. Just then Kanaya rounded the corner.
"Ah, Karkat! Did you-"
"Yes." Karkat said when Kanaya stopped and stared at Nepeta. "I've changed someone's life."