(Author's Note: Yes, I know this took a ridiculous amount of time in being put up. I apologize. Final exams take up a lot of my time, and social issues such as a loss of matespriteship have hampered my time for writing for you guys. Now that it's summer though, expect a chapter just about every week or so. Also, I notice that I didn't get any reviews last chapter and it was kind of disappointing, so if you could find it in your heart to take five minutes or less to just say your opinion, ideas, or words of encouragement, I would be unbelievably grateful.
With Redrom, Icecestro Xi)
Karkat was the first to jump into the rubbery neon confines of the first raft, quickly cramped by another four escapees all piling in to find a seat aboard the egress of the dull, barren plateau, with the rest taking the second vessel until only Eridan was left standing firmly on the ground between both rafts with his arms folded in in a scowl.
"Wworthless land-dwwellers, can't evven push their own glubbin' boats…." He muttered, focusing in quickly on the focal point of his mind and grabbed hold of a flowing pair of violet strips of silk that slowly materialized in his palms. The metaphysical reins were governed by his power, and drew upon his ability to manipulate the flow and form of water by acting as a physical anchor with which to focus the currents.
As the intangible strips of violet were raised higher and higher, water drifted from the edges of the plateau in currents to gather around the reins and form winding ropes, coils of water drifting into the sky in a breathtaking spiral of unsurpassed majesty, before coming together to form a smooth river-seventy feet over the surface of the ocean.
"Why diidn't you ju2t motor u2 through the water that'2 riight down there, you know, iin the OCEAN which ii2 2uppo2ed two be your area of expertii2e?" Sollux asked sarcastically, packed tightly against Karkat in the first raft, which began its ascent onto the path.
"'Cause that wwater's fuckin' filthy, Sol. That's wwhy. I ain't goin' to ruin my clothes wwhen this wway is just as good, if not better," The water-orchestrating boy replied, throwing a wink and sharkish smile back to the rafts, "Because technically Sol: I'm carryin' you back home."
As the rafts rose upwards on the streams of water, Eridan followed by simply walking up the curling streams to the surface of the floating river, and then continued stepping along beside them as though the path was made of solid stone rather than gravity-defying, will-manipulated water.
"You're goiing two get friied a2 2oon a2 we reach land Ampora..."Sollux mumbled to himself, crossing his arms over his knees as he curled into a ball to put space between him and the others in the first raft. Among him were: Karkat, who didn't take up that much space and was currently crunched into as tiny a ball as he could manage to keep from touching anybody; Tavros, who was lying face-down in the raft trying not to notice how high up they were; Dave, who's expression still hadn't changed; and Terezi, who's goal was to get as close to Karkat as possible by practically laying across the top of his head, destroying his chances of keeping people from touching him.
Hours went by, drifting along at a steady pace that brought them closer and closer to a heavily forested shoreline, interrupted by a steady flow of complaints from Karkat, deep breathing sounds from the shuddering Tavros, and occasional exclamations from raft number two as Feferi, Kanaya and Aradia went on about what to do once they reach the mainland.
"CAN'T YOU MAKE US GO ANY FASTER? I THINK TAVROS IS GOING TO EMPTY HIS DIGESTIVE SAC IF WE STAY UP HERE TOO LONG, AND TEREZI CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT PERSONAL SPACE IS."
"OH HUSH K4RK4T, TH1S 1S HOW 1 R34D M1NDS."
"BOTH YOU AND I KNOW THAT WHAT YOU JUST SAID IS A LOAD OF CRAP." Karkat replied, glaring at Terezi as her widely grinning, upside-down face hung inches in front of his.
"uGHHHHHHHHHHHHH… cAN wE pLEASE, uMMM, sTOP sOON? i dON't fEEL sO gOOD….."
"At lea2t you don't have Ampora over here makiing con2tant 2exual pa22e2…"
"You afraid of breakin' soon, Sol? Are my pick-up lines getting' too good for ya? In that case maybe I'll make it take twice as lo-" Eridan replied, superiority edging into his voice slightly before there was an abrupt grinding noise as the bottom of the raft grinded against the tops of some large conifers.
"Oh look, we're here. Now get us the fuck down. Your sexual advances on Tesla over there are terrible enough to have a danger zone, and are almost enough to make me regret not swimming." Dave interrupted immediately, bringing a deep sigh of exhaustion from Eridan who lowered the reins and let both rafts down slowly into the midst of trees to land onto a bed of moist, mossy earth.
The water marking the trail all cascaded suddenly into rainfall and crashed along behind them and scattered across the ground. Both groups jumped out of their watercrafts as soon as they felt their raft touch the land and started loitering among the trees and stretching out their compacted limb muscles, before finally gathering up around the rafts to talk excitedly and exclaim how amazing it was to finally have actually escaped only to be interrupted by Karkat calmly stepping outside the circle and exclaiming "WE HAVEN'T ESCAPED YET. THEY AREN'T JUST GOING TO LET US GO THAT EASILY. I WANT EVERYONE TO BE ON THEIR GUARD BECAUSE AS YOUR LEADER, I'LL TRY NOT TO LET ANY OF YOU BUMBLEFUCK IDIOTS TO BE TAKEN BACK…." He paused, letting that sink in and clearing his throat quietly, surprised that everyone was actually paying attention, and continued.
"THE FIRST THING WE HAVE TO DO IS FIND A PLACE TO STAY, AND IT HAS TO HAVE A ROOF. TEREZI, YOU AND ROSE ARE ON ROUTE DETAIL. WE HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW FAR WE ARE FROM SOMEWHERE SAFE TO HIDE. THE BIGGER AND MORE COMPLEX THE LOCALE, THE BETTER. TAVROS, YOU SHOULD PROBABLY CLEAN YOUR FACE AND THEN HELP THE OTHERS SEARCH WITH BIRDS OR SOME SHIT. ERIDAN, HIDE THE BOATS. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY MIND-NUMBINGLY OBVIOUS SUGGESTIONS TO THE CONTRARY ABOUT WHAT WE SHOULD DO?"
The others stared blankly for a few seconds or looked at the ground before Sollux spoke up with, "Well, when ii looked iinto theiir re2earch termiinal2, ii 2aw that theiir were four other e2capee2. That'2 what gave me the iidea for u2 to try and e2cape iin the fiir2t place. We could try and fiind them two fiigure out how two keep hidden until we get onto our own two balance 2upporter2. After all, 2trength iin number2 and all that."
"DO YOU HAVE ANY BETTER INFORMATION THAN 'THEY ESCAPED'? IF THEY'VE BEEN ABLE TO HIDE FROM THE COMPANY FOR SO LONG, HOW ARE WE GOING TO FIND THEM?" stated Karkat, skepticism present in his tone.
"Ye2, a2 a matter of fact ii do, KK." Sollux replied smugly, a satisfied grin forming on his face. "The fiir2t four escaped iin two paiir2. The fiir2t paiir got out eight year2 ago, whiile the other two left only four year2 ago. ii wa2 even able to get theiir name2 and project code2."
"SO EVERY FOUR YEARS THEY HAVE A BREAK OUT AND THEY DON'T BOTHER TO UP SECURITY MEASURES. WHAT KIND OF WORTHLESS INCOMPETENT DID THEY PUT IN CHARGE THERE? AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHAT ARE THE NAMES OF THE FIRST PAIR THEN, MR. OH-SO-GLORIOUS HACKER? IF WE ARE GOING TO LOOK FOR THEM, WE'LL NEED SOMETHING TO GO OFF OF." asked Karkat snidely.
Sollux paused for a moment to recall his memories and said,
"Equiiu2 Zahhak and Nepeta Leiijon. Project code2: B100 and AC33"