Finally Karkat had found something that bothered the kid. John's face fell and he didn't speak until they reached a cottage on the edge of the village.
"This is my friend Dave's house." He said, beginning to cheer up. Knocking on the door, John suddenly dropped to the ground, hands over his head.
Karkat stared at him in disbelief. "What the hell are you-" There was a whirring sound of machines and then a sickening click. He glanced at John then fell to his knees, a sword flying out of seemingly nowhere and burying itself into the ground directly behind him, inches away from his feet.
"If you weren't such a shortie, then it would've killed you." Drawled a voice.
With a scowl, Karkat stood up and glared at the blonde-and significantly taller than the both of them- teen. "If you weren't an asshole, then I probably wouldn't be thinking of killing you."
"Dave!" John quickly stepped between them two, sensing the tension. "Dave, this is Karkat. He's staying with me until he heals. Karkat, this is Dave, one of my good friends."
Dave picked up the sword from the ground and swung it over his shoulder with a smirk. "Sorry, but Striders can't help but be honest. It's a family trait."
"Says the guy who won't even take off his goddamn sunglasses to say a proper hello." Karkat retorted.
There was a few seconds of uncomfortable silence.
Dave shook his head and chuckled. "That's because my eyes are sensitive to the light. Check your facts before you attack, shortie."
Karkat growled under his breath. The dislike between them two was mutual. John stood between them uncomfortably.
"Well then!" He said with a nervous laugh, taking Karkat's arm and dragging him away. "Lots of people to see and so little time. See you later, Dave!"
John made sure Dave went back inside his house before asking Karkat "So what do you think?"
"He's an ass." Karkat said shortly. "So far all three humans I've met are."
"You've never met a human? Well, you're the first troll I've met." John politely ignored the insult. "Not many trolls from your kingdom come up here. What's it called...Alternia?"
"Well that's because we fucking can't. Have you ever been to the border?"
John looked around and pointed at the forest running along the edge of the cliff, bordering the ocean. "It's somewhere over there. Maybe a days walk?"
With a roll of his eyes Karkat nodded. "Yeah, it's heavily guarded. Soldiers everywhere. No one goes in, no one goes out."
"That's a bit harsh..."
"Yeah, you better fucking bet it is. Try and defy their laws or the hemospectrum and escape-" Karkat traced a line across his neck. "Krrrtch! Dead."
John flinched. "Is that why your family died?" He asked, remembering what Karkat had told him earlier.
The troll's face grew grim and he stared at his feet. "Yeah. We're mutant bloods..." He nearly smacked himself. Why did he let it slip? "Anyways, be happy that the Condescension hasn't come here."
"The troll empress?" John rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh...well...her army makes rounds here."
"What?! Why?"
"I don't know exactly." The bespeckled teen shrugged, beginning to get nervous.. "I heard the people in town talking about something called...um... 'god tiers', whatever they are."
Karkat stared at him. "God tiers? What the heck are those?"
"Apparently every thousand generation there's twelve trolls that are born with legendary powers. They're given a title of some sort. Like 'bard of space' or something. Apparently the Empress uses them for soldiers."
Karkat swallowed nervously. "Like...knight of blood?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason. Why are they looking for them here?"
"Just some rumors..." John's voice grew quiet. "Of human god tiers. But that's just a legend!" He added quickly. "It's not true."
"Yeah, of course not." Karkat agreed.
There was a pause of silence before John started walking again. "Come on. My other two friends aren't as bad as Dave."
"You only have three friends?" The troll raised an eyebrow. "You need to get out more."
"Well, four now that I've met you." Replied John. 'We're friends, aren't we? That's four."
"No." Karkat said shortly. Seeing John's crestfallen face he sighed. "Fine. Okay. Whatever the fuck makes you happy."
"Alright! Next up is my good friend Rose Lalonde. She's like my big sister." John lead him to an old, ivy covered cobblestone house.
"Is this house boobytrapped as well?" Asked Karkat warily as he watched John knock on the round door.
The raven haired teen snorted. "Luckily, no. Dave just has too much time on his hands."
From inside the house there was a loud crash and lots of muffled cursing. A girl with short blonde hair held back by a black headband opened the door, quickly blocking the opening and Karkat's view of the interior of the house. She gave a small sigh of relief when she saw John. "All clear!" She called towards the back room and turned back to the two. "Hello John. Who's this?"
"This is Karkat." John said, stepping forward to give her a hug. "We found him yesterday, and he's staying with us until he heals. He fell off the cliff."
"Well, he's lucky to be alive." She held out a hand, which Karkat reluctantly shook. "I'm Rose Lalonde."
There was another crash from the back of the house. Rose flinched as another girl of the same age with large round glasses ran into the room, a large white, wolf-like hound at her side. "I'm so sorry! Bec killed a crow and put it in the pot! I think I got all of it out." She said, just noticing John and Karkat in the doorway. "Oh, a newcomer! Hey there!" She gave a glance at Rose-who hurriedly ran to the back room- and rushed over to Karkat, hurriedly shaking his hand. "Hi! I'm Jade! Jade Harley. I've never met a troll before!"
"Karkat." The troll massaged his hand. Jade had a pretty strong grip. The dog-Bec, apparently- stepped forward in front of Jade protectively. He growled, ears pressed flat against his head. Karkat took a cautious step backwards.
"Bec!" Jade sighed and knelt next to the dog, stroking between his ears. "Don't be so rude! We've just met him."
"Yeah...down doggie." Karkat said nervously. "Don't fill in for her parents."
"Oh, but he is my parent! He raised me!" Jade said happily.
Karkat gave John a confused look. John nodded and shrugged. "Alright then...so what are you making back there?" The troll asked.
Jade exchanged a cautious glance at John before speaking. "Um...bread."
"Bread." Karkat echoed.
"Yes!" She squeaked. "Bread!
"In a pot."
"Well, its a special type of recipe..." She muttered nervously.
"Nice..."
John glanced at the sky outside. "Oh, look at the time! Its sunset, so we should go. Nice seeing you Jade! Say bye to Rose for me."
"Oh! Yes, nice meeting you Karkat." She held the door open for them both.
"Sure..." Karkat shot a glare at the growling Bec before quickly following John outside. "So what's going on?"
"What? Nothing!" John said quickly, walking faster.
Karkat rolled his eyes. If it wasn't his business, then he wouldn't poke his nose in the matter. "Fine."
They walked back to the bakery, going through the kitchen to get to the back rooms. Karkat took a deep breath as they passed the large ovens. "Holy shit it smells amazing in here."
"One of the pros to being a baker's son." John smiled. "So tomorrow we'll move your stitches. Are you going to stay a while after?"
"It's not like I have anywhere to go." Karkat muttered, sitting on his bed and kicking off his shoes.
John clasped his hands together happily. "Great! I'll see you in the morning then!"
"Yeah, yeah. Good night." Karkat slid under the blankets.
"I'll show you around a bit more!"
"Sure."
"And maybe give you some of my dad's bread for breakfast. It's the bomb."
"Whoopity-doo."
"And then we'll meet with the others and-"
"Oh my gog! Shut the fuck up and go to bed!" Karkat sat up with a glare.
John blinked. "oh...okay. Good night."
The troll sighed and laid back down as John left the room. "Good night."
John poked his head back in. "You know I was thinking-"
Karkat held back a groan. This was going to be a long night.
