Your name is Karkat Vantas, you are 16. You are a tribute in the Sburb games, and you're not doing too well. You are limping through the woods of the arena in the rain. You've been crying for days. You just lost the girl that had hope in you. You were spared by her killer, but you will not make it much more if you don't find help. Aradia was healing you until she came. When she left, she left Aradia lying on your lap saying her last words. She also gave you a parting gift of stepping on your wound. You were left the wound by a boy and girl duo by the water. The boy tossed you in the water when his girl was done with you. You landed on your knee, sending a sharp rock into your knee. You limped out of the water, leaving blood in the water. You limped onto the rock land and laid there waiting for your eminent death. It would never come. You weren't scared of your death. You were afraid of what you'd leave behind; more of who you'd leave behind. You were scared then, even though the who we're talking about had already left you. You talked with Aradia about this, before she died. Your special who was already gone. You yelled when you saw her face on the morning sky. You would redeem her. You would kill whoever killed her. You and Aradia became great friends before her death. Speaking of her death, she passed about an hour after her attacker left. For that hour, all you talked about was your feelings. She told you of the boy she'd watched die. The one she wanted to be with one day. It was that boy from 2. She really liked him, but she had to watch him die. She told you of how she had lost hope until she found you on the river bank. She told you of how she fell in love with the angry boy she'd watched back in 12. She told you of her family's hard times. She told you everything in that last hour. You watched her rusty-red eyes fill with tears in her last moments. The last thing she asked for was a kiss. She got her wish. You planted a kiss on her soft red lips. Her long black hair in tangled in your fingers. She would always be remembered.

You let a few more tears fall for the girl that liked you. You felt angrier with every tear that fell. You grew angry when you thought of how it was always District 1 that would win. You felt angry that you were automatically dead to everyone in 12. You were angry in the differences. You were just… angry!

Deep in your silent thoughts, your bright red shirt soaked in the rain and blood. You heard a cry, the cry that would break your thoughts. You looked up from your feet to see a girl, sitting in the rain. She was crying. She looked like she was in the same condition you were in a few days ago. She had herself balled up beneath a tree. You noticed something… odd behind her. As you got closer it became clear; both to who she was and to what was lying behind her. It was the girl and boy that wounded you at the river. Behind her lay the boy. She let out another sob. You realized he wasn't just sleeping. He was dead, a single shot to the back. You looked to her left and saw the bow. You realize it must have been her shot that took his life. You know it couldn't have been on purpose.

You run as fast as your wound will let you. You reach her and throw your blanket around her. She was cold as ice. You were hotter than ever. She doesn't even think for a moment that you could kill her at any second. You shoosh her and try to get her to stop crying for a damn moment so you could talk to her. You look over to the dead boy and see just what had happened. The purple stripe on the boy's jacket was enough. The boy from 5 got to them at a bad point. You pity the girl. You were going to take your anger out on the first tribute you saw, but you now know your real target. You wanted High Game Maker's head on a stick. You wanted him to pay for putting the Districts against each other. You wanted him to pay for killing so many people. Not just kids, but the people of the fallen Districts. Not only the people slain in arenas like this, but people who just wanted to be free. You think of all the people that are dead and the anger swells in you again. You look at the girl, she was rocking back and forth now, the blood stains still on her. You stand and yell into the closest camera

"YOU SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?! HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH?! HAD YOU NOT HAD ENOUGH PAIN AND SUFFERING? I WON'T SUFFER ANY MORE. NO MORE FUCKING SUFFERING. I WON'T HAVE IT! YOU SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO THIS INNOCENT GIRL? AND THIS POOR BASTARD OVER HERE?" You call into the camera. The girl had stopped crying to hear your ridiculous rant. You huffed and puffed. You'd yelled pretty loud. You sit your ass back down next to your new priority. This girl. It seems you have gotten her to stop her balling.

"What's your name, kid?" You ask her, you probably know already though.

"J-Jade. Jade Harley." She could barely utter a word.

"I'm Karkat. Seems you're in pretty fucking terrible condition." You tell the girl without thinking. She just nods. You don't know what to do next. She was covered in blood and mud. You thought the rain would have taken care of that.

"C'mon. I'll take you to the cave I've been hanging in." You grab her hand and stand

"N-no. I can't leave him here." You turned her head to look at the boy. Her eyes filled with tears

"No no no, you are not crying again!" You drop to your knees and wipe her tears away

"He can come too then" You tell the girl and she looks at you. She probably thinks you're crazy to let her bring a dead boy with you.

"O-okay" She stutters again. She was shaking. She was pretty cold. You heave the boy over your shoulder. His limp face in your ass, and his limp ass in your face. It was uncomfortable but you had to keep him to keep her. She would be your sob story, the one that would propel your rebellion. You would make it with this girl. You feel something gently hit your ass; it scares you for a moment. You suddenly realize it was the kid's nose. You hear Jade sniffle and come totally out of thought. You look around you and see that you're already at the water

"We're close." You tell her and she silently nods. You walk along the water with the depressed girl. You walk until you spot it, a trail of your own blood.

"Oh no!" Jade shouts in her tiny voice

"Don't worry it's mine, from when you threw me in there" You reassure her

"That… that was you?" She looks up at you for a moment and you see the recognition come across her face

"Yeah. I'm that piece of shit." She falls silent at your note of self-hate. You walk until you spot your small cave. You were dreading your arrival here. You knew what was waiting for you there. Aradia was waiting for you there.

"Okay, you're not the only one with a corpse." You decided to warn her, since your blood spooked her

"What do you mean?" She looked a little sad

"When I got thrown in the water, I got hurt. I accepted I was fucking done for and just sat down. She found me and helped me survive. Then she got killed. I couldn't make myself get rid of her, and she's in there." You look down at your feet

"Did you like her?" Jade looked more neutral now. Better, you'd say.

"No, but she certainly liked me" She fell silent for a moment before speaking again

"I liked Dave, and he said he liked me. We thought we were gonna make it together before he came"

"I'm sorry"

She fell silent again as you entered the cave. Aradia was laying there, looking just as pretty as she did the moment she lost her life. You looked at her poor lifeless body and slowly set the boy next to her. You and Jade both had literal skeletons in your closets. You and Jade sat down and ate some food that you had in your bag.

"The rain stopped, we will go get clean in the night, with weapons." You tell her and she silently nods.

Midnight hit and you and Jade decide it was time to go. You both walk along the same path you took to get to the cave. You reach the water within 10 minutes.

"Jade, you can go first, but you'll need some help. Take off everything but your undergarments." You tell her and she again silently nods. She takes off her standard jacket. It wasn't until now that you noticed her wearing 2 jackets. One around her waist, with green lines, one around her shoulders, with blue lines. You'd recognize the blue anywhere. The one you'd die for. The girl you liked. Terezi. She didn't have her jacket, and she wasn't with Jade, so she must be dead. The terror hit you; you tried to hold back a tear. You look at her and she stripes of her green shirt- it was stained in blood. You pick it up and put it in the water. You secure it by putting it under a rock, the rough water would get it clean. She takes off her pants and you secure those too. Her tiny pale body was shaking, her green undergarments were cheap and did nothing to keep her warm. She was much shorter than you. You were 6 feet tall and very slim. She was frail and on the short side. You take her hand and make her sit in the water. She shakes more at the touch of the water. You thoroughly wash her hair, and then move on to washing the blood from her body. You get her clean and then hang her clothes. You tell her to take her jackets back to the cave and to warm up in there while you get clean.

You wash your face and hair out. You make sure that there is no more blood on anything you own. You walk back to the cave nearly naked. You were cold but your body would warm up soon enough. You walk into the cave. It was surprisingly large. It had several chambers you and Aradia discovered. You found one with an opening. That is the one that you guys used to dry your clothes and to cook. You hung the clothes and started the fire in there. You then walked into the chamber where your corpse collection was. You started the fire and helped Jade work through her tangles in her hair. You talked about life back in the districts and you talked about your dead friends.

It was a pleasant night in the most dreaded place.