He slowly opens his eyes and grimaces. They feel like they're on fire. He pushes himself into a sitting position and brings a hand to his aching head. What happened? He was in his hive just a second ago. He obviously isn't anymore, since he can feel a soft breeze tickling his cheeks, and he's pretty sure his hive doesn't have grass and dirt instead of the floor. He rubs his temples, trying to remember anything that has to do with this awful headache, him sitting in the middle of a field, and ... and why the hell are his fingers sticky? He takes a look at his hands. He doesn't even need to stare at the yellow substance covering them for ten seconds before he realizes it's mind honey. Did he accidentally get some in his mouth? Is that what happened? Still doesn't explain why he's so far away from the communal hive stem. Whatever. He'll think later. He decides he'd better check what he managed to blow up. He glances up. There's a hive, or whatever's left of it, anyway. It doesn't seem to have been very big in the first place, probably belonged to a lowblood. There's rumble and dust everywhere. No signs of any trolls, but he gets up to have a look anyway. He wants to at least know if he has killed anyone. He ambles through the wreckage, looking for any signs of life (or lack thereof). He spots a mangle of white fur a couple of feet away from him. He figures it must be the troll's lusus. The body is too badly damaged to even tell what kind of lusus it is, but he recognizes the blood that's covering it. A feeling of dread settles over him. He can feel his heart pounding in his chest as he keeps moving, a little faster now. It's not like she's the only one on the planet with burgundy colored blood. There are thousands of them, he tries to reassure himself.
Sollux freezes as he notices something that looks distinguishably troll-like lying in the wreckage ahead of him. He's running now. He's completely forgotten about the headache. He almost trips over some skulls, which doesn't calm him down. Of course, none of those skulls belong to a troll, but he knows that Aradia has a thing for them (and bones in general). She once told him she has a collection of them. He hopes this isn't it. His last bit of hope fades away as he reaches the troll. She's lying on her side, eyes closed, lips slightly parted, and unmoving. And covered in blood that's undoubtedly hers.
"no ..."
He drops to his knees next to her.
"no, no, no, no, no," he keeps repeating as he cradles her into his arms. Her curled horns are scratched up, her long thick hair somewhat singed, but it's still her. Why, off all the trolls on Alternia, does have to be her? He holds her close and buries his face in her hair. He can't stop the tears from falling anymore. He just sits there, sobbing, until he feels something on his neck. It's so soft that it's almost nonexistent, but he can feel it. He forces himself to take a better look at the girl. He can't really see her chest rising and falling with each breath, but he can feel them on his skin when he holds his hand in front of her face. Just to make sure, he places two fingers on her neck and waits. He lets out a breath. It's there. A pulse. Weak, barely beating, but it's there. She's not dead. His heart clenches again as the voice in his head whispers, not yet. He has to get her help. But where? he couldn't imagine any troll around here giving a shit about a dying rust blood. If it were the Empress or one of her descendants, sure. But literally no one cares about the lowbloods. They die all the time. It's no big deal. But he isn't going to let his matesprit die.
He carefully picks her up, one arm under her knees, the other supporting her back. It scares him how light she is. Then again, she's lost a lot of blood. Still is. He can feel it dripping onto him. He hopes he has enough strength to fly back to his place. He knows the closest hive around is probably Tavros', but he doesn't know where it is, and besides, he doubts Tavros can be much help. Sollux heard he had got into an accident recently that left him paralysed. For now, he just has to focus on getting Aradia to his hive. Then, he'll see. He tightens his grip on her and takes off. He tries to keep his hands from shaking as he flies, but he can feel her blood soaking his shirt and her skin is cold to the touch and she is slipping away right in front of him. He swallows and tries to go faster.
After what seems like forever he finally reaches his hive stem. He doesn't even bother entering through the front door, since he lives at the very top and doesn't have time to use the stairs. He just goes in through one of his broken windows. He'll have to get that fixed later. He stumbles inside, panting, and gently sets Aradia down on the couch. He can see her better now, and it feels him with dread and guilt. She's still not responding, not even when he calls her name. He can hear Bicyclops bellowing up on the roof. He probably senses something is wrong. Sollux doesn't have time to go up and calm him down right now. The lusus will just have to deal with it. He runs to the ablution block and digs out the first aid kit. He always keeps bandages and pain killers around, even though the mind honey accidents don't happen as often as they used to. You never know. He begins to wrap a bandage around her stomach, where he figures most of the blood is coming from. She doesn't even flinch. He's crying again and he realizes right then that he can't do this alone. He scrambles to his computer. Only one of his friends is online, so he can't afford to be picky.
twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]
TA: tz
GC: H3Y, WH4T'S UP?
TA: tz i need help i can't do this by myself please
GC: WO4H, WH4T'S GO1NG ON? 4ND 1 C4N T3LL 1T'S MOR3 S3R1OUS TH4N YOUR USU4L SH1T B3C4US3 YOU'R3 NOT 3V3N US1NG YOUR QU1RK
GC: ...
GC: SOLLUX?
TA: fuck she's still losing blood
TA: i don't know what to do and nobody's online fuck
GC: W41T, WHO? WH3R3 4R3 YOU?
TA: aa
TA: she's hurt really bad
TA: we're at my hive
TA: what do i do
GC: 4R4D14? WH4T H4PP3N3D? HOW MUCH BLOOD 4R3 W3 T4LK1NG?
TA: i don't fucking have time to explain
TA: she's dying
TA: blood everywhere oh god
GC: FUCK, OK4Y
CG: HOLD ON, 1'LL B3 R1GHT TH3R3
CG: TRY TO STOP TH3 BL33D1NG 4S MUCH 4S YOU C4N, OK4Y?
gallowsCalibrator [GA] ceased trolling twinArmageddons [TA]
He can't imagine how Terezi can get to his hive any time soon and he's thinking about contacting someone else, but nobody is online. He sighs and does as she said, pressing a cloth to Aradia's right arm. He actually manages to clean some more wounds and wrap bandages around them, but it's still not enough. He leans in closer and wipes the blood off her face. His heart breaks at the thought of never seeing her beautiful eyes again. Or hearing her laugh. Or listening to her telling him about her latest FLARPing session.
The sound of the door opening snaps him back to reality. Terezi rushes into the block. She puts a hand on the wall, trying to catch her breath. Sollux blinks at her. Did she run the entire way? That's not possible, there is no way she could have made the long journey between her hive and Sollux's in half an hour, even by running.
"TZ, how diid you ...?" he starts.
She waves away his question and makes her way to the couch. She sits down and places a container on the floor next to her. Another medicine kit, Sollux notices. Good, he was running out of supplies.
"OH, GOD ..." Terezi mutters as she looks her friend over. "YOU W3R3N'T K1DD1NG."
"why the fuck would ii kiid about 2omethiing liike thii2?"
"YOU'R3 LUCKY 1 KNOW 4 TH1NG OR TWO 4BOUT 1NJUR13S," she says as she gets to work, cleaning the wounds. "NOW, PL34S3 T3LL M3 WH4T H4PP3N3D."
He thinks for a moment, because he's not so sure himself. "ii— ii diid thii2," he stammers. "ii thiink."
She stops and turns to face him. "YOU D1D TH1S?" she says slowly. He nods. "WHY? 1SN'T SH3, L1K3, YOUR M4T3SPR1T?"
"ii diidn't mean two!" he snaps. "ii don't even remember what happened! ii woke up and 2he wa2 ju2t ..." his voice breaks.
Terezi grits her teeth. "SO, YOU W3R3N'T 4W4R3 OF WH4T YOU W3R3 DO1NG? 4LMOST L1K3 ... SOM3ON3 W4S CONTROLL1NG YOU?"
He furrows his brow. "ii gue22 ... actually, yeah, that 2ound2 about riight. but who would—" he stops in mid sentence as he realizes he actually knows someone who has mind control abilities. Terezi has figured it out, too. She grabs the nearest pillow and screams into it.
"TH4T B1TCH! 1 C4N'T B3L13V3 SH3 WOULD STOOP SO LOW! F1RST T4VROS 4ND NOW TH1S!" She takes a couple of breaths to calm herself. "1'LL G3T H3R B4CK FOR TH1S. 1'LL M4K3 H3R P4Y."
Sollux puts his head in his hands. "thii2 ii2 all my fault. ii 2hould've fought agaiin2t iit. ii 2houldn't have let her u2e me liike thii2."
Terezi drops the pillow and sighs. "NO, 1T'S MY F4ULT. 1 TOLD H3R 1 WOULD T4K3 C4R3 OF VR1SK4. 1 TOLD H3R NOT TO G3T 1NVOLV3D. BUT TH3N 1 D1D NOTH1NG. 1 M34N, 1 W4S GO1NG TO, BUT ..." She slumped her shoulders. "1 W4SN'T F4ST 3NOUGH."
"fa2t ... TZ, not that ii don't appreciiate iit, but how diid you get here 2o fa2t?"
"1 W4S W1TH T4VROS. 1T'S NOT TH4T F4R 4W4Y. 4ND 1 R4N, S1NC3 YOU S33M3D SO STR3SS3D."
Good thing she did. Sollux doesn't know if he was even making any sense when he contacted her. He was so scared, so freaked out that he could barely type. He's a bit better now, as long as he doesn't glance to the right to look at his matesprit lying half dead on his couch, he'll be fine. Terezi quickly looks him over.
"YOU LOOK HORR1BL3," she says.
"gee, thank2."
"NO, L1K3, TH3R3'S BLOOD 4ND HON3Y 4ND ... STUFF ON YOU. GO CL34N UP. 1'LL T4K3 C4R3 OF H3R."
He's reluctant to leave Aradia's side, but he doesn't want to argue with Terezi. She's practically saved both him and Aradia tonight. He owes her, the least he can do is listen to her. He gets up and drags his feet to the ablution block. His reflection in the mirror almost scares him. Terezi was right. Blood and honey and ... stuff. His hair is messy and sticky. The dark circles under his eyes remind him how tired he is. Basically, he looks like shit and feels just the same. He splashes water on his face and grabs a towel. He'll bother with his hair later. He figures he should probably change his shirt, too. He takes it off and stares at it. There's blood on it, but it's not his. No yellow, just burgundy. He shuts his eyes and grabs a different shirt from the floor. He walks back Terezi. She's just finishing wrapping up Aradia's arm. The girl is covered in bandages by now, but he's glad to see that most of them aren't soaking through. Terezi has removed her clothes, since they were so torn up and burnt and bloody that they wouldn't do her any good and instead just get in the way. Sollux would be lying if he said he didn't think about seeing this girl naked before, but now really isn't the time for such thoughts. He watches her breathing, which is, thank God, a lot steadier now and he can see her chest slowly move with each breath.
Terezi exhales and sits back on her heels. "1 C4N G3T H3R SOM3 N3W CLOTH3S. 1 W4S ST4Y1NG 4T T4VROS' H1V3 FOR 4 COUPL3 OF D4YS, SO 1 P4CK3D SOM3. W3'R3 4BOUT TH3 S4M3 H31GHT, TH3Y SHOULD F1T H3R." She stands up. "OH, Y34H. C4N 1 US3 YOUR COMPUT3R? 1 N33D TO T3LL T4VROS TH4T SH3'LL B3 F1N3. H3 W4S R34LLY WORR13D WH3N 1 L3FT."
He isn't the only one. Sollux nods and motions over to the computer. "thank2, TZ. for everythiing."
She shrugs. "WH4T 4R3 FR13NDS FOR?"
He sits down next to Aradia while Terezi types a message for Tavros.
"2o, 2he'll be okay?"
"SHOULD B3. TH3R3 4R3 SOM3 B4D BURNS 4ND FR4CTUR3S, BUT G1V3 1T T1M3. TH3Y'LL H34L. 1 4LSO M4N4G3D TO G3T SOM3 W4T3R 1NTO H3R. SH3'LL B3 F1N3."
Sollux's fingers lock around Aradia's. He's almost afraid to touch her in fear of hurting her any more. He still can't believe he actually did this to her. He hopes she will be able to forgive him one day. For now, she just has to get better. He can't imagine a world without her.
Terezi decides to stay with them overday, mostly because the sun is already going up and it's not safe to travel now. Sollux appreciates having her here, though. She helps him gently lift Aradia off the couch and place her into his recuperacoon. Hopefully, the slime will help her heal faster. He plants a kiss on her head, then lies down on the floor. He insists that Terezi sleep on the couch (which has been cleansed of the blood). She's really tired, and falls asleep in less than a minute.
He can feel his own eyes close and sleep takes over.
I had to. Thank you for reading! Reviews are welcome.