Hello everyone! I just want to say that I am very, very sorry for the long wait :( The dreaded writer's block consumed me. Well, I expect to be updating again soon, but I'm gonna need a lot of motivation. School is starting up again in, like, a week, and 8th grade is going to be a bitch. Alright, I'll get on with Chapter 4 now.
Be the happy boy that is just waking up.
Your name is Gamzee Makara, as you have previously learned, and you are rested and happy. You open your eyes and stretch your arms above your head as you yawn. Your friend, Karkat, stirs beside you, letting out a small yawn. You assume he is awake and poke his shoulder.
"Hello, Best Friend," you say, smiling. His eyes are closed still but he furrows his brows. "No, Gamzee," he says groggily. "When a person wakes up as the day begins, you say 'Good morning'."
"I say wrong?" you whine. You worry again if you made him upset.
"No, Gamzee, you just said something people don't always say to others when the wake up."
"So Gamzee say right?"
"No, not that either," Karkat grumbles, dragging both hands down his face.
"...Gamzee make Karkat mad?" you say worriedly. Karkat's eyes snap open, the emotion clear.
"You are starting to," he growls. You frown and hug him as tight as you can. "I am sorry, Best Friend. I not do again," you say. He frantically scrambles out of your grip and groans.
"Gamzee, no hugs. We need to get up," he sighs out. You roll out of the canvas and onto the sun-warm sand of the morning. Karkat pulls the folded sail off of himself, sits up, and rubs his eyes. You look down at the cut in his side and see that is is already looking healthier, the red around it is gone and a scab has formed. You smile.
"Best Friend," you say happily. "Your hurt looks better."
Karkat raises a brow and looks down at his side. He hums. "Yes, Gamzee, it does," he replies. He gets up and rouses the rest of the group while you find some more of those leaves. Those things calmed you down when you ate them and they healed people too.
Be the dehydrated and hungry boy that is waking everyone up.
Your name is Karkat Vantas and you are extremely thirsty. You have finished waking everyone up and have succeeded in getting them into a group circle around the burnt-out campfire. Gamzee is nowhere in sight, or at least you think so, until he tackles you to the ground. Nobody warned you?! They can all see behind you! You scold him and he gets off, sitting beside you as you talk about your little water problem.
His eyes light up at the word "water". That seemed to be one of his favorite words last night.
"Best friend! Know where water!" he tugs at your tattered pants, smiling up at you. You stare down before replying.
"Where is the water, Gamzee?" you say, changing the tone of your voice so it sounds like you are conversing with a three-year-old. You think for a second before continuing. "The one that humans can drink?"
Gamzee nods and points to the jungle behind you. You turn to the group with an exasperated look on your face that tells them…
You were going to be gone for a while.
…..
Your name is still Karkat Vantas and you are currently trudging through the jungle. You started this trip dehydrated and sweating as much as you are right now and it is certainly not helping.
You don't know how long you've been walking or how much longer it will be. You have decided to stay on the moist ground while Gamzee uses the boulders and trees as a pathway. The jungle has only gotten progressively more humid, and you're not sure if you can take much more of it.
This thought is confirmed when you collapse to the ground. You are exhausted and your breathing seems heavy.
Your eyelids fall closed as you hear Gamzee yelling your name. You don't black out, though, and within seconds you are picked up by a strong pair of arms.
"Best Friend," Gamzee whispers. Your eyes flutter open for a second just to close once more. "Sick?" he continues.
When you only groan for an answer, he takes off running further into the jungle. "Water, water," you hear him repeating, your head bouncing up and down as he runs, saying what needed to happen, "Karkat needs water."
You attempt to open your eyes when he stops, and luckily, you are able to see your surroundings as he lays you down on some moss beside the pond you two are at.
You take in the area as soon as it comes into your vision. There are vibrant green ferns with waxy leaves, colors of the entire spectrum, and the water you had been set down next to is so clear that you swear you can see the details of every grain of sand on the bottom. The trees around you form a small circle around the pond, and let in just enough sunlight to brilliantly illuminate every color in the environment.
Gamzee is crouched over the waterline next to you, detaching a small animal-hide makeshift canteen from his vine-belt. He had everything he needed to survive on there.
You watch him fill the vessel with water and quickly scurry over to you. He pulls you into his lap so you are laying horizontally on his crossed legs and tilts your head back, bringing the canteen to your lips. You reach up to the bottle as the cool, refreshing water runs over your teeth and down your throat. You clench your eyes shut and take huge swigs of the liquid, letting your arms fall to your sides and the canteen roll away from you when you empty it.
Your breathing slows after a few minutes, and Gamzee starts gently petting your hair. You're too tired out to protest, though, so you don't say anything.
"Karkat feel better now?" Gamzee says, smiling down at you. You sigh out a "yes" and he sits you up. You put your head in your hands and peer through your fingers at the completely transparent water.
You move towards it and reach your hands into the cool liquid. You sigh as your sunburned arms are chilled down and you move your hands deeper into the pond until it has reached your shoulders. It is deeper than you thought, and it seems to have a bigger area, too, once you take another look at your surroundings.
You stare back down into the water and take a deep breath, holding your sun-pink face under the cool temperature for a little while. You lean back up and breath heavily, watching Gamzee fill the small canteen and a larger one up with water. You know it's not going to be enough, though, and you interrupt him.
"Gamzee," you say, your voice a bit raspy from the dryness of your throat, "That will not be enough water for everyone."
Gamzee thinks for a moment, processing what you said. He suddenly perks up with a smile.
"I know, Best Friend! We use… we use…" he trails off, trying to think of a word. He looks up at you again, and points to one of the palm trees near the water. You stare at the tree, puzzled, then your eye catches on a bunch of coconuts.
"Gamzee," you say, looking back to meet his gaze. "Those?" you point to the coconuts. Gamzee nods and makes his way towards the tree. You wonder how you are going to help him to the top when he begins climbing it on his own. You wonder how he does it, first of all because palm trees have no branches, and second of all because just exactly how strong is this boy?! Not even a circus performer is that capable of doing such a thing, Nepeta could probably confirm that.
You watch, mouth agape, as Gamzee grabs the bunch and slides down the trunk of the palm as if it took zero effort. He walks over to you, smiling, and sets the coconuts down.
"Here, Best Friend," he says, and hands you a blade made of solid wood. He pulls out his own from that pouch, and begins splitting the rough objects in half, pouring the translucent liquid out and onto the ground. You watch him split a few more open before you try one on your own, You succeed and are happy with your results of the next few, but you're jealous of Gamzee's skill. He splits them in half a second, the cut perfectly straight down the middle, while you take a little longer and your cuts are rather jagged and uneven. You finish and fill one half of each coconut with water.
Once you two are done, he gets some thin vines from around you, cuts small holes near the cuts in the coconuts, and strings them through. You watch, quite impressed, as he skilfully seals the water-filled coconuts. Once he finishes, he smiles at you, proud of his little invention. To you, it seems like he is always happy, and you can't help but let down your walls the tiniest bit and let some of his joy rub off on you.
After a few minutes of silence, he begins to speak. "Karkat," he says, excitement lighting up his eyes, "Idea!"
You nod your head expectantly. "What is your idea, Gamzee?" you say, leaning forward. He looks as if he is thinking, then grabs your wrist, strings the chain of coconuts through his belt, and stands you both up.
You are about to question him when he begins running deeper into the jungle. You swear he will never let go of his death-grip on your hand. You struggle to keep up with him, being significantly smaller with shorter legs and having blacked out not even thirty minutes ago.
The only thing you see as you are moving is a blur of different shades of green and brown with a few vibrant pinks and yellows here and there, the only thing you hear is the crash of small plant leaves rustling beneath your feet, and the only things you feel are your hand being held tightly and the bottom of your bare feet gradually being caked with the fertile soil of the jungle. You are running out of breath and are about to ask him to stop when he ceases all movement. You lift your hanging head up to see the clearing around you and notice a tree with what looked like ladder rungs cut into it.
Gamzee looks down at you and smiles, then points to the tree. You nod.
"Alright, Gamzee, just let me get ahold of my breath first," you say, still panting. You are eventually able to keep a steady breath up and slowly walk towards the trunk of the thick tree. You put your hands on it and you realize just how enormous the thing is. You're not sure if it's indigenous to this area but you aren't about to question it.
You start climbing, boosting your short frame up to the second "rung" with a small hop. You make it halfway up the tree and look over your shoulder, down below you. Gamzee is just under you, and when you stop, he looks up and you and smiles. You can't help but let out a small laugh at his constant… mirthfulness. Yes, that was a word that described him perfectly. Mirthful.
The further you climb up the tree, the thicker the waxy leaves are. You get to the top, and luckily, you aren't afraid of heights, because this tree is far larger and taller than any other on the island. It is a little past noon by now, judging by the position of the sun, and you carefully set yourself on the thick layer of leaves and branches. Gamzee follows a few seconds after, sitting next to you but somehow still significantly taller.
You can see the whole island from all sides. There is nothing but ocean for miles, shimmering and pushing waves onto the sandy shore. The sun warms your back and stings your sunburned face, making you wince slightly. Gamzee looks at you , slightly worried, but you shake your head reassuringly. Gamzee points northeast of you, leaning close to you. Your heart flutters for a second when his forearm touches your shoulder and you mentally scold yourself. What was that for?
"Friends there," he says quietly, letting his arm slap back down onto his lap. "They waiting for us."
You nod your head and look on in front of you, letting your mind wander. You think about all that has happened, what will happen if you ever get back, and how long you will possibly survive on this island. You zone out for a while.
Be the quite happy island-dweller looking at Karkat.
Your name is Gamzee Makara and you are currently looking down at Karkat who seems to be in some sort of deep thought. You can't help but feel protective over him and feel sad when he gets hurt. You like how short and grumpy he is and you could say… Well, you could say that you "love" him. That was one of the first words they taught you, love. You can say that you have felt it a long time ago before, but you're not sure when. You kind of want to lean in and "kiss" him… that's what Dirk does to Jake and Dave does to John. You think… all they do is touch their lips together and they love each other. But…
Wouldn't Karkat have to love you too? You are best friends. You wouldn't want to ruin how close you are to him now. You fight back the urge to get close to him, hug him and then kiss him, and you shake your head quickly, causing Karkat to look over and furrow his brows.
"Gamzee, are you alright?" he says questioningly. You look him in his dark red eyes, and smile.
"Yes, Best Friend," you say. He shrugs and looks back in front of him, raising his hand up in front of his forehead to block the sun from burning him further.
You decide that now is a good time to go back. You nudge his arm.
"Best Friend," you say. he looks back over to you with his default scowl. "I think we go back to friends now."
He nods and you start descending before him. You stop at the fifth rung and jump off. He follows soon after, stumbling a bit. You laugh and start walking back the way you came.
Be the short, red-eyed boy following your ape-man friend.
Your name is Karkat Vantas and you are so confused. You have just climbed down from a tree and you are currently trudging through this stupid, thick jungle right after your "best friend". This "best friend", however, is the thing that's making you confused.
While you were sitting atop the tree, you started to think about things. Certain things. These certain things just happened to be about him. You had been thinking about what it would be like to kiss him, and then had quickly snapped out of your thoughts. You are a man. He is a man. There is nothing more than platonic that should be in between you.
Still, you cannot help but feel the slightest bit of romantic attraction to him. He's always smiling and laughing. He saved your lives. Unfortunately for you, it's contagious and always breaking your facade.
The one thing that annoys you, though, is the weird face-paint he wears. You still can't guess how he knows what a clown looks like or why he decided to look like one. You decide you'll ask about it later. It'll be a chance to teach him some new words anyway.
You two eventually make it back to "camp" and the rest of your friends are elated to see that you have brought the requirements for rehydration. You all slowly drink the water and revitalize your systems, and by the end of he day, it is all gone. The only thing to solve now is your hunger.
But you guess that can wait, because all you want to do now is to sleep.
Especially if Gamzee is hugging you while you do so.