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The Arx could easily be seen from several miles away. It is believed that in the history of the planet, there had never been a larger tree. The empress had had a palace built at the very top, though one had to squint to see it through the foliage. The high bloods would live inside the tree, the higher the caste - the higher the living block. Life was good for those of noble blood. Deep in the ground, as far as the roots of the tree would grow, resided the dungeons. They were especially reserved for the low bloods, who had, according to the high bloods, committed horrible crimes and deserved to be punished. Occasionally, blue bloods would end up in there as well, but never any troll with blood higher than indigo. The dungeons were split into five areas. Blocks E and F were where the green bloods were being held. They weren't considered a "threat" by the empress. Their bodies weren't built for combat and they very rarely possessed psychic abilities. But those who did ended up in block C. It had originally been reserved for the mustard bloods, but since those were constantly being used by the empress to power her ships, they just put any troll with weak psychic powers there. Blocks A and B were the largest. They held the rust bloods, who were almost always equipped with psychic powers. As the empress had ordered, they had to be kept at bay at all times. There would be no trolls blasting open walls and disrupting the system. There would be no attacking the guards or the empress herself with psionics. This was easily accomplished by keeping the rust bloods unconscious most of the time. The guards used any means to knock them out, so awful, blood curling screams could always be heard outside the tunnels that led to blocks A and B. The system was cruel and anything but fair, but it worked for the empress. And that was all that mattered.
Karkat Vantas watched from the bushes as a pair of blue blood guards (he could tell by their uniforms) dragged a group of trolls through the forest. They were headed for the Arx, of course. Where else would they be headed? He had spent weeks watching them capture trolls and take them to the big tree. He would sometimes follow them. Like today. Especially today, actually, because one of the captive trolls looked just a bit too familiar. He kept moving alongside the group, being careful not to get spotted. With his mutant blood, he wouldn't even have the right to a trial. He'd just be killed on the spot. The troll he was watching suddenly turned around. Unfortunately, he'd been right about her identity. The small girl with cat-like horns was his friend. Nepeta. Karkat and his friends used to meet up all the time when they were little. They kind of went separate ways when the caste system started to affect their relationships. He thought he'd never see any of them again, and yet here she was. He really didn't want to meet any of them in this place, though.
They had reached the Arx and the guards forced their newest prisoners through a tunnel that lead down to the dungeons. Once the prisoners are locked up, the guards would alert their supervisors of the new arrivals. Then, the trials could begin. Karkat usually turned away and ran off at this point. But that wasn't an option this time. He couldn't live with the guilt of knowing that his friend was being held at the Arx and he had done nothing to help her. He looked around. There was precisely one guard standing a few feet in front of him. He got an idea. It was crazy, sure. But it was the only idea he had at the moment. He picked up a stone and hurled it into a nearby tree. The sound caused the guard to leave his place and run to the tree. He was busy searching the area for the source of the noise, and didn't notice Karkat sneak up on him with a much larger stone. It took one blow to the head for the troll to crumple to his knees. Had he killed him? Karkat couldn't afford to care at the moment. As he was removing the uniform from the guard, he noticed the teal blood that was dripping down his face. He felt a tinge of sadness as he remembered his best friend had the exact same blood color. He often wondered where Terezi had suddenly vanished to. He remembered she had always wanted to study law. She had a passion for justice. Maybe she found a decent job somewhere. Maybe she was dead. Maybe he should stop thinking about her and hurry up. He didn't have that much time to sneak in. He put on the uniform and stood at the entrance to the dungeons. He took a deep breath before opening the door and descending down the stairs. The tunnel was, thankfully, lit with torches. A troll couldn't see a foot in front of them without a light. Karkat tried to keep his hands from shaking as he reached the end of the stairway. In front of him, he could see dozens of cells, holding a large number of trolls. Their hands were chained above their heads, so they just sat there with their backs against the walls, unmoving. Guards walked up and down the corridor, sometimes entering the cells to feed or hit the prisoners. The latter happened more often, usually if the troll was making too much noise. Nobody seemed to take any interest in Karkat as he made his way through the corridor marked with a big F. He searched the cells, found dozens of green bloods, but not the one he was looking for. He decided to check block E as well. He was beginning to doubt that his friend was being held here. Maybe they had already taken her to the trial room. But then he spotted her at the end of the hallway. Her hands had been chained as well, so she had brought her knees to her chest and bowed her head. Karkat made sure there were no guards around, then opened the cell using the keys he had stolen from the guard and knelt in front of her.
"NEPETA?" he whispered.
Her head perked up. "karkat?"