"C'MON, FUCKASSES. WE'RE ALMOST TO THE TOP," Karkat yelled at the three other trolls. Ajonic only gave a little grunt as reply. Terezi smiled, inhaling deeply.
"You don't need to be such a sour puss, Karkitty," Sollia said, pouting. Karkat groaned.
"DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO CALL ME THAT? YOU SOUND LIKE FUCKING NEPETA!"
"Of course I do- Hello, I have a sworn obligation to annoy the shit out of you," Sollia said, laughing lightly. Karkat only made a little annoyed noise as they continued walking up the slope.
Terezi and Sollia suddenly looked up. Well, Sollia was the only one who looked- Terezi could only turn to the sound.
"Karkitty, look out!" Sollia shouted. Karkat turned in time to be shoved away from several falling boulders. He looked up from the ground.
"THE FUCK?" He shouted, standing. "TEZ, AJ, SOLLIA, YOU OK?" He froze, looking at the ground in front of him. Oh fuck. No, oh gog fucking no.
"Terezi and I are ok," AJ called from the other side of the huge rock pile. "Isn't Sollia with you?"
Karkat swore. "TO HELL SHE IS," He shouted, kneeling next to Sollia's broken form, trapped under the rocks. "SOLLIA, WAKE THE FUCK UP," He shouted at her. She remained silent and still. Karkat grabbed her arms and tugged. The other troll came loose but remained unconscious.
"Karkles, you need to get her to the top," Terezi said from the other side of the rock pile. Her voice seemed almost choked up with emotion. "If we're right, her quest bed is up there- you know what to do!"
Karkat muttered under his breath as he picked Sollia up. "YEAH YEAH WHAT EVER- I GET IT," He shouted. "YOU JUST WORK ON MOVING THESE FUCKING BOULDERS OUT OF THE WAY."
And Karkat continued the climb with the unconscious troll.
Reaching the top, he gently laid Sollia down on the quest bed. He turned around and sat against the bed, putting his head in his hands.
"Karkitty?"
Karkat whipped around to see Sollia opening her eyes. They were dull and had a far-away look to them. "SOLLIA I SWEAR TO GOG YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN YOURSELF FUCKING KILLED."
A small smiled graced her lips before twisting in pain. "That's…. the point…. Isn't it?" she asked. It was true. Karkat groaned and put his hand to his face.
"WELL THAT WAS STILL REALLY FUCKING STUPID."
Sollia was quiet for a bit, breathing softly. Finally, she spoke again. "I'm dying, aren't I Karkitty?"
"WITH A FUCKING STUNT LIKE THAT, PROBABLY,"
She was silent for a long time. Karkat wondered if maybe she had gone unconscious again, but then she spoke. "Karkitty, it hurts… I can't feel my legs and everything hurts…"
Karkat sighed and leaned against the bed. "CONSIDERING YOU WERE JUST CRUSHED UNDER A TON OF ROCKS, YOU'RE PROBABLLY GOING TO FEEL A SHIT-LOAD OF PAIN."
"Please Karkitty, make it stop….."
Karkat whirled on her. Her face was twisted in pain and it looked like she was holding back tears. It suddenly dawned on him he had never seen her cry. "Just… shut up…" he said very softly, looking away. Hell, there was no fucking way he was going to kill her. No fucking way.
"Don't be scared, Karkat," Sollia whispered. She closed her eyes and shuddered. "Please… Hurry…"
Karkat looked at her again. Had she seriously just called him Karkat? He felt himself suddenly holding his scythe. No. No, he was not going to do this. His arm was raised high. No. Hell fucking no way he would do this, no fucking way he could do this.
Karkat closed his eyes. "I'm so fucking sorry," he said.
Sollia smiled through the pain. "I… can see Skaia…. It's…. beautiful…."
He brought the scythe down.
It was some time before he could open his eyes again. And when he did, he screamed. Oh fuck oh fuck it was everywhere- mutant candy red blood. No fucking way. No, she was NOT a fucking mutant like him. No, it just wasn't fucking possible.
And yet, there was the proof- all over his hands.
He shuddered as a cold breeze passed, ruffling his hair. There was another gust that hit him full in the face. The fuck? He looked down at the quest bed. Oh. That made sense. The symbol of 'BREATH' had started glowing underneath Sollia. Karkat looked up to see hundreds of butterflies, from every direction. He stood up and started to back away, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight.
Everything was glowing blue. The butterflies landed on Sollia, fluttering their wings. There was a sudden bright flash- Karkat thought he could see the 'breath' symbol hovering above her. And suddenly, it was over. The butterflies were gone, nothing was glowing, and Sollia was still lying dead on her quest bed.
"Karkles!" Terezi shouted from behind him. He turned to see Terezi and Ajonic finishing their climb. "What happened? Everything got really bright! It smells like you- What happened?"
Ajonic didn't say anything, staring in dumb amazement at Sollia. Karkat sighed, shaking his head. "SHE WAS TAKING HER FUCKING SWEET TIME DYING. SHE WAS IN PAIN, SO I FINISHED IT,"
Everyone was silent. Ajonic finally broke the silence. "Well, that's that then," he said, turning around. He started to head back down the pillar. Karkat didn't want to leave, but he knew that AJ was right. He tapped Terezi's shoulder lightly, and headed back down.
