"Dave, where the fuck are you going?"

"Out."

"You know what I fucking meant."

"Well, Karkles, since you're so concerned, and have to know, I'm going on a walk to none of your business, and I might stop by leave me the fuck alone on the way there."

Karkat sunk in his seat at the kitchen table, narrowing his red eyes at his so called friend who was staring back at him from behind his shades. It was safe to say the albino was less than amused by Dave's response, but decided to drop it, not in the mood to drag this stupid conversation out. He flipped him off as he turned and left. Karkat didn't know why he moved in with this dick other than he didn't want to have to stay alone and pay rent by himself in some shitty apartment. Don't get the wrong idea; it wasn't just him and Dave here. Fuck no, he would lose his mind. No, they had decided to bunk with a couple collage buddies so they could all split the rent and afford a nice place. Mind you, when Karkat agreed to this, he had no idea how many people where going to be crammed into one house. As if Dave wasn't enough, he was also roommates with Eridan, Nepeta, Feferi, John, and Rose. Yup, just one big happy fucking bunch.

Even though Karkat wasn't entirely happy with his so called roommates, he couldn't complain about the living arrangement. With their entire income combine, they had settled on buying a nice house in a nice neighborhood. The home was rather large, and just big enough for all of them to live comfortably. There were 3 stories to the house. The third floor was just a couple bathrooms and bedrooms, where the boys slept. The ground floor had a bathroom, the kitchen and dining, a living room, and bedrooms for the girls. The cellar was just as you think a cellar would be. Dark, dingy, dirty, and cold. The floor was still concrete with no carpeting or other flooring put in, and the walls were the same. A couple dangling light bulbs was all there was to light the room. They had planned on cleaning it up and maybe making a lounge, or a game room, and Eridan and Feferi were pretty intent on convincing everyone to make the basement have a secret swimming pool. In the end, fear of the eerie basement, and pure laziness rendered the cellar into being their storage room, which was now flooded with boxes and knick-knacks, and things nobody would need ever.

All in all, it wasn't bad. Everyone did their share of cleaning and cooking, they didn't have too much trouble with stealing each other's stuff, or invading personal space. Okay, no that was lie. But it was bearable at least. It was also in a calm area, nice and away from too many roads, or people, and behind the house, was just plain forest for miles. It was nice.

But still, Karkat couldn't help but be extremely annoyed by his roommates all. The. Time.

-…-

Dave shoved one hand into the pocket of his black jeans and used his free hand to brush back his light hair before it fell back into place. Dave sighed quietly. He was a bit down. He didn't know how to explain it, it's not like anything bad happened, and he wasn't having some sort of man-period mood swings. He was…well, just plain bored. He thought that after he got out of school, the do-the-same-exact-thing-every-day way of life would be in his past, but he felt like it was happening all over again. He wanted freedom to stretch his arms, and hang out. And maybe some time to clear his head without John placing whoopee cushions on his seat or Karkat screeching in his ear, or his sister trying to dissect his brain. Just to clear his head. He began to walk, to the woods out back. He didn't know why, it's not like he's ever walked there before. He had no interest in the wilderness, or nature walks, or squirrels throwing nuts at his head. He grew up in the busy city, it just wasn't his thing. But somehow, he found himself surround by trees with twigs and dried leaves withering underneath his sneakers. He gave another gruff sigh to himself but instead of turning back he pushed forward, every now and then getting his pants snagged on a thorn bush or have a branch stick out and tap at his shades.

"Goddamn, why don't we have a path or some shit?"

He muttered to himself, pushing further. He didn't know how long or far he walked, and didn't care. At least it was quiet and at least it was new. He did, however, snap from his thoughts when he noticed it was beginning to get dark. He muttered a curse to himself and turned around on his heels. He couldn't see the house through the thick trees and he knew that it would probably be a while before he did. So he began to walk back where he assumed the house was. It wasn't until another hour passed that he realized he was lost. He pushed his hand behind his shades and scrubbed at his eyes in irritation. He knew this wasn't right, he heard water. A stream probably, and he sure as fuck didn't pass any stream. He decided to sit down, and try and figure out where the hell he was before he got himself eaten by a pack of rabid deer or something like that. He wandered over to the nearby stream and sat on the hill a little ways a way, glancing down as the water passed. It was getting pretty dark by now, and he could hear the crickets chirping.

*SNAP*

He flinched at the sound. It definiatly sounded like a person stepping on a twig and breaking it. Or something. He tensed up and glanced over to where he thought he heard the noise from, which was difficult to determine from the way the sound bounced off the trees. It was all silent for a minute, only the rustling of leaves and the insects around to comfort/annoy him. He relaxed.

*SPLASH*

"Holyshitwhathehell!?"

With that, Dave hopped up, scrambling back, and had to stop himself from tripping over a couple twigs and rocks jutting out from their place on the ground. His entire body went ridged. It had sounded like something had jumped in the river, something big, much bigger than an innocent squirrel taking a midnight dip. He wanted to run, but then it occurred to him that this was probably a prank by Egbert, trying to scare him again, and he'll be damned if he'll give that kid the satisfaction of scaring a Strider. He snapped his head over to where the splash came from.

It was not John standing in the water.

In fact, what Dave saw nearly made him piss himself, not that he'd ever admit it. Or rather, who he saw. Whoever this guy was. He stared at the other through his shades with wide eyes.

Standing knee deep in the water was a tall, gangly male, his limbs littered with scratches and scars. He was extremely thin, unhealthily so. It was easy to tell seeing as he was only wearing a loin cloth. His skin clung tightly to his ribs, and the ridges of his spin were prominent. It looked like he hadn't been well fed in a long time. There was a thick layer of dirt and grime coating his skin from top to bottom, the water in the stream doing nothing to clean it off. His jet black hair was long, and tangled like he had never had a haircut before, reaching past his butt and ghosting the water bellow.

The one thing on Dave's mind was not 'what is he doing here' or 'what is he', but was the fact that he found this filthy stranger fascinating. He should be scared, or maybe pissed off that somebody was trespassing. But he wasn't. He was just interested in who he was, why he was here, and what his story was. So instead of running away, he watched him, relieved he wasn't noticed yet.

The man sloshed around in the stream, trudging forward, and cupping the water with his hands, and pouring it onto his side. Upon closer inspection, Dave noticed a gash on the others side, still oozing with thick crimson blood. The other male grunted in pain, but repeated, until he was satisfied that the wound was clean. He sighed, and then sunk chest deep into the water, going silent. He must be cold, it was late September. But he stayed there. He just sat there in the water for at least 10 minutes. Dave almost went down to check and see if he was still alive, to see if he had fallen asleep or something.

*SNARL* *SPLASH*

Dave jumped and watched as the other growled and slashed his hand into the water, only to pull it out with a dead fish resting in his palm, a slash going through its throat, probably from skilled fingers ripping his jagged nails through its skin and scales. And then he put his mouth and bit it. He…He just fucking bit it. It took him a moment to finish off the fish, having its blood stain his lips and chins from lack of cooking it. He even ate like an animal, gnashing his teeth, making slurping noises, and chewing with his mouth open, showing off his sharp, bloodstained not so pearly whites. When he had finished, he got up, out of the stream, dripping, smearing the blood around his mouth with the back of his hand.

Staring at him through his shades, which would be a bit difficult at this time of night if he wasn't used to it, Dave watched as the beastlike man trudged his way over the hill on the opposite side. Dave stood there for a moment, pondering on what he should do next. He turned in the opposite direction. And ran.

He didn't know how fast or how long he ran, and he knew he tripped a couple times, scrapping his pale skin and ripping his jeans, but he didn't stop, not until he spotted his home, ran inside, and then finally slammed and locked the door behind him.

"Whew…I'm outta shape…"

He wheezed, leaning against the door, trying to catch his breath when he noticed skeptical violet eyes staring at him. He did what any guy in his position would do and stared back, finally calming his wheezes.

"Hey Rose. Aren't you up past your bedtime?"

"Yes, if I had one, that is. I decided to delay my slumber this fine night because a certain brother of mine had left without telling anyone his destination, or if he even had one, and then disappeared for four hours."

Ah, good old Rose. He loved when she let him know she cared in the way that can make him feel the shittiest. She closed the thick, old looking book she had in her lap, running her thin, milky white fingers delicately over the title, pretending that she was far more interested in the book than Dave.

"Well? I am expecting an explanation, you know." The thin, fragile looking girl spoke impatiently, her words leaving her place lips with obvious frustration and worry.

Dave walked over to the couch his sister was sitting on, stepping behind it so he was directly behind her, and leaned over the edge of the couch, his hand gripping it so he didn't fall forward.

"What're you reading?"

"Where were you?"

His attempt to change the topic to something more comfortable did not work. And Dave knew there was no convincing Rose to change her mind once it was made up, she wanted to know why he was gone for so long. He couldn't blame her. It wasn't like him to run off like he did anyways.

"Alright fine, you got me. I just took a walk in the woods, which is why I'm dirty and smell like nature."

"For four hours?" She arched a thin brow, clearly skeptical.

"I got lost. But hey, I'm sorry I worried my baby sister." He cooed out the last words sarcastically and then ruffled Rose's hair, having her blonde locks fall in her eyes and her headband slip. She hated that, and he knew it. She huffed; dropping her novel onto her lap and reaching up to fix her hair, fiddling with the headband for a moment and then gave up, taking it off and placing it with her book.

"You can hardly call me a baby considering we're the same age, and I am vastly more mature than you." She reminded him. Only siblings like Rose and Dave could have such a healthy relationship with such teasing and snark.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm going to bed. I suggest you do too." Dave left Rose where she was in the family room and walked up the stairs to his room, slamming the door behind him. The Strider trudged over the dirty clothes on the floor, and then simply dropped onto his messy bed, not changing out of his clothes or taking off his shoes. He already knew he wasn't going to get any sleep. He couldn't get that man in the woods out of his head. He would have to see him again.