[A/N: Okay, here's chapter two, finally. I had this already written up and whatnot, but it needed some serious editing. I didn't really get anyone to beta-read this, so if there are errors, then please feel free to point them out to me.]

Disclaimers: I do not own Homestuck or any of the characters. All rights belong to Andrew Hussie.

'Where am I…?' Darkness swirled around him like ebony waves, lapping at his weakened frame and bringing with it a sheer coolness. It chilled him to the bone, going even so far as to put a layer of ice over his soul. At least, that was how it felt. For the longest time, though, everything was just… how it felt. There was no logic; no reason; no rhyme. Time no longer made any sense to him. It was as if the calendar had been completely ripped off the wall and recreated anew. Every passing second, moment, day… everything rotated of off a single point in his memory. One tiny, single point of light on the night sky above, yet his entire universe rotated on its axis.

He had been sober for a long time now. Far, far too long. He had long since forgotten how sopor tasted. It was a fading memory to him now, how the tingling, numbing sensation felt on his tongue, before it slowly numbed his mind to the voices, and the thoughts.

The rage.

Every time he'd have a thought about the 'ungrateful peasant-blooded motherfuckers', he would eat a handful of the toxic slime, wanting it to cover up those thoughts, and the violent impulses they brought. It worked… for a little while. But on the meteor, they had a limited supply, and he quickly ran through it within a short while. So much rage had been felt, he couldn't even begin to remember specific instances. There was just anger… and pain.

'Why am I here…?'

The cold had completely engulfed him, and he shivered violently, clutching at his biceps and curling in on himself in hopes of salvaging at least some body heat.

'Why is it so dark? Why is it so cold? Where am I…?' He couldn't see; couldn't hear; couldn't breathe, couldn't feel anything except for the chill invading his body from some unknown source. 'I wonder if… I'm finally dying…' The thought brought an odd sort of comfort, and hope. He wouldn't be capable of hurting anyone else, ever again. Never. He would never, ever, ever have to see that look of fear in anyone's eyes. He would never have to worry about snapping and killing someone. He wouldn't have to be afraid of himself anymore.

A relieved but anguished grin pulled at his lips, and he could feel tears pouring down his cheeks from his eyes.

… At least, what he thought were tears.

He wiped at his cheeks and found his fingers coated in not translucent indigo, but blood. Brown blood. His hands trembled and he shot upright, backing away as if he were backing from a dangerous creature. He stared down at his quaking hands with wide indigo eyes, stumbling to his feet and turning to find himself in his hygiene block. Confusion only took hold of him for an instant before he reached for the faucet on the sink, turning both knobs until they wouldn't turn anymore. The water came out in hot spurts, and he shoved his hands under the scalding spray, wanting nothing more than to wash away the blood on his hands. He closed his eyes as he felt the slickness fade away.

He instantly wished he hadn't.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself washing his hands in even more rust-colored blood, half-congealed and sticking to his fingers. A gag worked its way up his throat, but he forced it down, resulting in a choked sob echoing throughout the space around him. 'Why…?' He staggered away from the sink and down the never-ending hallway, watching in despair as it stretched endlessly before him. No matter how far he ran forward, or backward, he couldn't escape. The spots of brown blood on the welcome mat taunted him, and even more blood dripped down the walls, forming a wave that washed over him.

He screamed and fought for air, only to inhale a breath full of blood. It choked him and coagulated in his lungs, and he collapsed to the floor in a heap, gasping for air that wouldn't come.

This was what he deserved.

This was his price.

He brought this on himself.

'Why can't I just fuckin' die?!' He sobbed silently, unable to make any sound besides that. Indigo-tinted tears streaked through the mud-colored blood coating his face, and he whimpered in pain and in fear and in sorrow. 'Tavros…'

Then, everything was gone. The cold, the blood, everything. Indigo and yellow eyes opened wide in terror for an instant, and he found himself looking up at a flat, blue sky. 'What…?' He forced himself to sit and looked down at the ground beneath him. Soft grains of sand cradled him as he'd slept. It got in his wounds and grit against the sensitive flesh and muscle, but he could barely feel it. The only pain he could feel was internally, in his thinkpan and in his vascular pump. 'Guess I'm still alive…' he thought bitterly, sighing as he forced himself to his feet. His legs were a bit shaky at first, but he quickly regained his footing in the sand and stood, surveying the area. He recognized it, but it was a faint memory, and he had trouble placing exactly where he knew it from.

That is, until he turned around.

He brushed the sand from his pants and turned, holding a hand above his brow to shield his eyes from the sun's harsh, bright rays. When his eyes finally adjusted to the light, though, he froze at what he found. With soulless white eyes being the only difference, there stood someone so familiar yet so foreign that he almost couldn't quite say his name.

"… Tav…ros?" Incredulously, he stumbled a step backward, his foot sinking into the sand. There was no way. This couldn't really be Tavros, could it? He shook his head and blinked, thinking maybe it was just a trick his vision was playing on him. When the troll standing before him didn't fade into mirage, though, he gave a short laugh that sounded more like a sob and fell to his knees. His hands clenched into fists in the soft grains of sand and he trembled.

So many times, he had had dreams about the Taurus. They were not good dreams. Horror terrors worse than anything he had ever seen before, not because of the amount of blood in them, but of the sheer gulit he always had when he woke from them. Dreams of Tavros blaming him, screaming at him that it was all his fucking fault, that he deserved to die instead of him. Gamzee always agreed. There was no way he could argue it since he believed the very same. Still, to see him standing before him now, Gamzee was... afraid. He didn't want to feel like this anymore, didn't want to feel anything anymore. He just... wanted to be done. Maybe if he did things right in his dreams, then the mirthful messiahs would take pity on him and let him fade away into the peace death would surely bring.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Gamzee's head snapped up so quickly he feared his neck may have broken. That voice... it was so familiar, but who...? The harshness in its tone made it sound like it was shouting at him, even though its volume suggested otherwise. He knew this voice, from what felt like so long ago, but who could it belong to...? Who would possibly come to this place in search of him? He slowly turned his head to look behind him and felt the muscles in his vascular pump seize up, as if trying to stop its regular, continual beat.

A small figure, clothed in a sweater that was just a little too loose, making him look even smaller than he already was, stood straight and tall. The corners of his mouth turned down into a sneer that almost seemed permanent, exposing the uneven points of his fangs. The somewhat messy mop of black hair seemed amazingly untouched, giving the impression that he was not actually there at all. He was nothing more than an illusion, or so the Capricorn began to think, but it all seemed so familiar. The smooth, nubby horns nestled in that mess of hair reminded him of someone dear to him, and he was almost carried back to a time when he imagined how those horns would feel beneath his touch. 'No. That time is gone.'

"Karkat..." The highblooded troll swallowed thickly and lowered his gaze back to the sand at the other's feet. It was painful, seeing him here now. Even if it was only an illusion, a trick being played on him by his tired thinkpan, it still brought an uncomfortable sting to his chest. The figure before him scoffed and crossed his arms over the grey Cancer symbol on his sweater.

"Who the ever-loving fuck else would be here right now? Congratulations, you remembered my fucking name. Color me fucking impressed," he grumbled, shaking his head. "You didn't answer my question. What are you even fucking doing here?"

'What am I doing here...?' The question was surprisingly difficult, despite how simple it was. He didn't know why he was here, or where he was, even... though, he couldn't really say he cared anymore, either.

"Just waitin' to die, I guess." The answer came out so easily that it was almost surprising. The Capricorn didn't feel the pained smile spread across his lips, but the other apparantly saw it. Karkat- or, the illusion of Karkat, or whatever this was- growled and stepped forward. The illusionary hand drew back, and -

Whack!

...Hands that weren't really there shouldn't be able to hurt that badly, right? Gamzee's hand reflexively reached up to rub at the now sore spot on the back of his head, weary indigo eyes slowly raising to meet the narrowed crimson of the other.

"You what?" he hissed, eyes narrowing until they were nearly slits, and his smaller hands roughly grabbed the Capricorn's shoulders. "What kind of fucking answer is that?! Of all the dumbassed things for you to say, that had to be on the very top of the fucking list of Stupid Clowny Bullshit Answers!" Gamzee's eyes widened at how real it all felt. This was just a dream, right? None of this could be real. Why did the other's hands feel so solid on his shoulders? Why were the claws so sharply cutting into already battered and abused flesh?

"So what, you've just fucking given up?! Fuck that shit! You can forget about that right fucking here, and right fucking now!"

"Kar-"

"What, did you think that you were just going to go hide like a fucking wriggler because some bad shit went down? Well news flash- no dumbfuck moirail of mine is going to hide away until the day he fucking dies if I have anything to say about it!"

'... oh.'

Widened hues of indigo stared incredulously, disbelieving, up at the Cancer. Even as the hands on his shoulders began to shake, and his indigo blood began to spill down over his arms, he didn't move; he couldn't. His entire body felt numb, save for his thinkpan and blood pusher, and he was fairly certain that if he tried to move, then he would only succeed in falling over. He was overcome by a multitude of things in that moment, but for once, guilt was no longer in the forefront. Rather, it had decided to step back, like a generous actor, allowing someone else to take the stage, stand in the spotlight. A small ball of warmth began to manifest itself in his chest, like a tiny little candle had been lit, giving off a small but undeniable ray of light.

Cherry-tinted raindrops caught his attention. He tilted his head slightly to one side, almost curiously, before he struggled to get to his feet- or, he thought he would have struggled. It took hardly any effort at all, as if his weakness and his pain had simply vanished. Cautiously, he raised a hand and cupped the other's cheek, trying to ignore how badly Karkat flinched when Gamzee touched him. His thumb swiped gently underneath his eye, erasing the watery tracks left on slightly flushed skin. The world around him was beginning to grow fuzzy, and he knew that soon, he would wake up, and this would be gone again. With the first real smile he'd had on his face in nearly a sweep, the taller troll wrapped his arms around his dream-moirail's waist and pulled him close, resting his forehead against the other's.

"I'm sorry."

[A/N: Just as a warning, this will be slow to update. I've got other projects I'm working on. If you're willing to stick with it, though, then I promise I'll do my best to make the best out of this. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know it kind of cuts off at a crappy place, but... bluh.

Please leave me a review letting me know what you think! Thank you for reading!]