Signless wasn't wrong about when they would get there. It only took them a few hours after they set out to arrive at the town. If you could call it that. It was huge. Tall buildings filled with trolls took up much of the outer city. Farther in were more shops, hotels and other establishments. It was amazing how many trolls were in the place. At least three had tried to get Karkat to buy something from them. It was complete sensory overload. Nepeta seemed to be having the biggest problem. The Disciple had to keep ahold of her arm to keep her from getting pulled into the crowd. Once they had gotten far enough in, they stuck to alley ways and back roads, coming across some of the slum areas of the town. Karkat was so glad he didn't like during this time. He couldn't even imagine what would have happened to him. The worst was when they accidently got too close to the main square and came across a slave auction. The lowbloods were being sold to the higherbloods. The Dolorosa pulled him along right when a maroon blood about his age caught his eye. He had never seen a troll so miserable. Chills ran down his spine as he walked along. The faster he could get away from that ball of misery and pain the better.
They finally came to a stop outside of a shabby looking hotel in one of the less disgusting slum areas. Psiioniic went to book a room while the others stood just out of sight. No one would question them. Not here. "The Dolorosa and I will stay here. We're the ones with the greatest risk." The Signless was saying. "Disciple, I want you and Psiioniic to go out and help them." She stared at him for a moment, as though she was waiting for something. "Please?" The olive blood grinned. "Of course!" She chirped happily.
The Psiioniic stuck his head around the corner. "Got it. Second floor, room 213." He passed the room key to the Signless who gave his friend a pat on the arm.
"You're helping the younger trolls." He said. "Disciple is going with you. Don't start anything."
The Psiioniic immediately became defensive. "Sh-" A look from the Signless stopped him. He crossed his arms and grumbled about Signless's relationship with the Disciple and who topped. Signless nudged him in the side with his elbow and the two began an intense battle of slap and tickle. The Disciple leaned over and whispered something in Nepeta's ear that caused her to start giggling. The Dolorosa and Kanaya shared an exasperated glance and cleared their throats. Signless and Psiioniic looked up to meet the glare of two jade bloods. The boys grinned and obediently hid their hands behind their back. The Disciple cracked up behind the jade bloods. With a glance over her shoulder, the Dolorosa shooshed her too.
"This is hardly the time for that." She scolded the trolls. This was actually pretty comical and Karkat felt a grin begrudgingly rise to his lips. He kept it down by pursing his lips together. He was grumpy enough on a usual basis he could get away with it. The Signless nodded and instructed his friend to show them to the room. The three trolls went inside, leaving the young trolls in the care of the Disciple for the time being. She immediately scooped up her desendant once the others had gone, hugging her. It was nice to see them getting along with each other.
"Why Did The Signless Tell The Psiioniic Not To Start Anything?" Kanaya asked, most likely so she could keep an eye on the two while her ancestor wasn't there to do it herself.
The Disciple purred, "We prank each other a lot. Lately the Psiioniic has been starting it. Most likefurry trying to get me back." She had a mischievous smile that creeped Karkat out a bit. The Psiioniic came out a moment or two after that, rubbing the palms of his hands on his pants.
"Dolorosa's grub picking the room." he said with a grin. Disciple just laughed and set Nepeta down before walking off. The lanky yellow blood kept up with her easily while the younger trolls trailed behind. Karkat had to walk at a pretty swift pace to keep up with then, him being so short.
Once they reached the nearest market place, they went to work. The Disciple had drawn pictures of the missing trolls before they reached the city in one of her many journals. Nepeta had described their friends for her and it was surprising how detailed she'd been. She had noticed things about Terezi and Gamzee even Karkat hadn't noticed. Not to mention all the others. She had carefully left their blood colors out of the pictures so no one would be able to tell where they were on the hemospectrum. At each shop or booth, the Disciple spoke with each of the owners and showed them the pictures. On a few occasions, coins were exchanged but so far no luck.

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At last. Civilization. Nepeta had earned more credit than he could give her. It wasn't as easy as she made it look, making your way through a forest. Equius had tripped over too many plants to count and almost gotten lost on several occasions. If not for the fact that he and his moirail had had conversations about forest living before, who knows where he would have ended up. He made his way through the tall buildings, ignoring the low bloods that moved out of his way. Eventually he came across a slave auction. He didn't really care about it, or at least he didn't until he saw an olive blood sold to an older troll. The perverse look on the trolls face made Equius want to break it. If they had been hatched in this time, that very well could have been Nepeta in chains being sold to some sleaze ball. For the first time, he really thought about where he was. The blue blood was so caught up in his thoughts he nearly missed the cat like horns and olive tinted clothes pass across the auction. A sneak of blue, his blue, under the hood of a cloak confirmed it. And he was off, cutting around the crowd. He may have accidentally elbowed the troll who bought the olive blood as he ran passed.
By the time he had crossed the crowd, they were gone. But now he had a lead. He set of at a run in the direction she had been headed. He managed to keep on track with the barest glimpses of his moirail. Until they turned down a market street. Trolls were everywhere, nothing more than a confusing mass of bodies. He spend at least and hour scouring the street and the streets around it for her. She was no where in sight. He had lost her. In a fit of rage, he hit the wall of an unused building, sending it crumbling to the ground. None of the trolls nearby said anything, they just continued on with hushed tones. He would not give up. He would protect his moirail. As he was sure she would do.
The search began again at the actual marketplace. He kept a slow pace as he scanned the crowd bustling around him. All he was looking for was one familiar feature, just one, to show that Nepeta was here.
He didn't see her. But he heard her. The familiar chime of her laugh sent him wheeling around. There. Just down the street. There she was. She was so close. Right within reach...

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After a few hours of failure, they decided to take a break and were currently checking out the different shops. Disciple and Nepeta thoroughly enjoyed trying on the flashy outfits at one store while Karkat admired some weapons at another. No one bought anything though. They didn't have the money. Now the Psiioniic was completely pulled in by a headgear salesman. He had taken off his headband to try on some of the goods, ignoring the salesman waving around a large yellow helmet he swore up and down amplified psionic powers. Disciple leaned against one of the tables, commenting on the different looks. He finally turned to leave the booth after trying on a piece that made his head look like a pencil. But when he went to grab his headband, it was gone. It didn't take long for him to find the culprit. The Disciple danced away from the booth, waving it in front of her.
"Disciple!" he yelled, tearing off after her. The cat woman slipped through the crowd with ease. Psiioniic did not have that grace. He used his weed wackier elbows to shove his way through the other trolls, half blinded by the mass of messy hair hanging in front of his face. Karkat watched from the booth next to when it had began. Nepeta stood by him, giggling rather loudly.
Shooting her a look that ultimately did nothing, he tromped off after the two unbelievable ****s who only seemed to have the mental capacity to behave like newly hatched grubs. He'd made it down a few more booths before a sound stopped him. A scream. More accurately, Nepeta's shrill, pain filled scream.
Where she had been just a few feet behind him laughing, she was now on the ground, clutching her arm to her chest. Equius hovered over her with an expression that seemed like he was in more pain than she was.
The Psiioniic and the Disciple were beside him in a flash. Disciple pulled him back while the Psiioniic prepared an attack. He would have done it too, if not for Nepeta getting up and wrapping Equius in the tightest hug she could manage with just one arm. As you can imagine, the older trolls were confused.
Equius pulled away and began talking quickly to Nepeta. This was too much for Karkat. He was interveening.
"EQUIUS!" he yelled, walking towards them. The two looked up at him. Sollux and Kanaya choose this moment to arrive as well. "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS GOING ON? HAS YOUR BULDGING MUSCLES FINALLY CRUSHED YPUR THINK PAN?"
Equius was too panicked to answer. "Lowblood. It is imperative that Nepeta and I leave this town immediately. This is a trap and-"
The Disciple had arrived and cut him off. "A trap? What's a trap?" Her eyes shot daggers at him, as though she wanted to repay him for the pain he had caused her descendant. She most likely did. The blue blood ignored her though and turned his attention back to his moirail.
"Nepeta. We need to leave. Its dangerous here." He continued. He wasn't making much sence.
"Equius calm down. Why do we need to leave? Tell me." She tried quelling him. She was still craddling her arm and didn't seem to want to touch him just yet. Probably because he was sweating like a pig and then some plus he had managed to break her arm on top of that.
"This matter is not up for discussion. We're leaving. Now." He reached out to her, but another hand caught him by the wrist.
"I don't think so." It was the Psiioniic and his eyes were flashing dangerously fast. Equius met his gaze, looking like he was ready to throw a punch. The others could feel it in the air. The Disciple tensed into a crouch while Kanaya reached into her pocket, fingering here lipstick. Sollux and Karkat stood tense as well, just less willing to enter the fray, should one break out. Things would have gotten really bad, really fast if not for Nepeta.
The olive girl softly placed her good hand on Equius's cheek, paired with a gentle shoosh. The effect was instantaneously and with a few paps, the tension left him.
The others reacted as well. The young trolls relaxed. Psiioniic released Equius but neither he nor the Disciple let the tension leave their bodies completely. Equius stared at the ground, a guilty look on his face.
"Now what's going on?" Nepeta asked, her hand resting on his arm.
Between his already low voice, him talking to the dirt and how fast he was speaking, it was difficult to figure out what he was saying. "This town is a trap set by the E%ecutionor for the Signless and his followers." The Disciple and the Psiioniic exchanged looks. "That's why we need to leave. You do not need to get caught up in whatever tomfoolery those delinquents cause." He scolded Nepeta.
"I'm going to get them." Disciple announced, running back towards the hotel. Psiioniic watched her leave before turning back to the young trolls.
"If you're with us, come on." He said, pointy glaring at Equius. He turned and ran after the Disciple. Nepeta didn't even hesitate to head after them, Equius running after her of course. Karkat watched his other friends run passed. Fuck. What had he gotten himself into? Too late. He was running after them too.

MMMMMMMMMMMM

To say Vriska Serket was happy would be an understatement. She was in heaven. For whatever reason, she had woken up a few nights ago on the deck of a ship, surrounded by adult trolls wielding weapons. She took out three of them when Mindfang came down from the upper deck. Vriska had won her worth on the ship. And now she was ripping up the high seas with the greatest pirate ever, Marquise Spinneret Mindfang! Rules meant nothing and the world was theirs for the taking! So no. Vriska Serket was not happy.

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By the time Karkat had gotten to the hotel with the others, the Disciple had already stormed into the room. The Signless had just finished stuffing stacks of paper into his pack and the Dolorosa was getting her own pack. The flurry of commotion was over in a second and everyone looked like they were ready to go. Disciple stared at Equius, who stood just inside the door, but she didn't say anything. The Signless did however.
"Are you the one who told us about the trap?" he asked, motioning for Equius to come closer. The younger troll nodded, taking a few steps in. "What else can you tell us?" The blue blood almost didn't answer, if not for Nepeta who was watching him with her large cat eyes.
"I was only told this was a trap for you. I do not know the details." he said. He had puffed himself up into an authoritative air, just as a reminder who he was and who they were.
The Signless nodded. This young troll was not their supporter. He was Nepeta's supporter and that was the only reason why he was here. "We'll take the main roads out. They won't expect that." he walked passed the other trolls and out the door, everyone else quickly followed.
They went out the back of the hotel and looped through the city until they reached one of the main roads leading out of the town. Once there, they slowed their pace to that of the crowd at took up a spot in the middle of the street. Each ducked their head down to hide their face, with the exception of Equius. As a blue blood, he most likely wouldnt be questioned.
Fortunately, no one stopped them and they were able leave the city quickly. Once they were a safe distance away, the trolls turned off the road and disappeared into the dense forest.