Caterina's POV

Chapter 4: The Arrival

I trudged over to my respite block, exhausted with too many things on my mind. I laid on my bed, staring at the ceiling, Karkat's clothes still on the edge of my mattress. I looked around my room at all the things Nepeta left behind, since we had roomed together. Part of me was still grieving and trying to forgive Gamzee for this, but it was time to move on. Instead of grieving that she was gone, I should look around here and appreciate what's left here with me. Surrounded by trolls and troll possessions, I held Karkat's shirt close to me, (a guilty pleasure) and I slowly drifted to sleep.

I regained consciousness engulfed in gold and yellow. I was even wearing it. Is this Prospit? I wondered. I got out of my golden bed and in my golden nightgown, I strode over to the window of my tower and looked out. From here, I could see strange visions in the clouds, and tiny white people scuttling about. I was too busy looking out the window that I didn't realize someone was behind me–

With a choked gasp, I felt a knife in my back. The shock kicked in, and then everything went black.

I shot up out of my bed, still exhausted. I was panting, my heart still racing from the shock and I practically ran into the lab.

Kanaya looked at me questioningly.

"Whatever Is The Matter, Caterina?" She asked.

"I just... died.. I went to sleep and someone stabbed me!" I hadn't realized I was shaking.

"I Wouldn't Worry About It, All Of Our Dream Selves Have Died As Well," she said reassuringly.

"Why?"

"Because Jack Felt Like It." She replied simply.

Too scared to be left alone, I stayed in the lab at my designated computer for most of the day, which was a rarity.

"WELL, LOOK WHO'S FINALLY HERE." Karkat came up to me and said sarcastically.

"Leave me alone, Karkat, I'm not in the mood today." I snapped with a passive aggressive venom in my voice. I was too tired to deal with his hot/cold attitude.

"ALRIGHT THEN, JEEZ," he said defensively.

"WAIT, WHAT'S WRONG?"

There was no time for us to deal with our tension now.

"We better get outside, Rose and Dave are going to be arriving soon," I said, getting up from my seat.

Sollux was bleeding, his mustard blood everywhere as he sped our meteor faster and faster, toward the Green Sun. Finally, we met with the infamous Dave and Rose, and it was so weird and yet relieving that I wouldn't be the only human on this asteroid anymore. I was so happy that I ran over to them, hugged them tightly in greeting, and smiled proudly at their God tier apparel.

Karkat got what he wanted as he quickly relinquished his role as leader over to Strider and Rose. It was so fun to finally be together, even if we still had to wait three years until Jade and John came along. I was so excited to meet my ancestors, especially when John left us his message in the bucket that hit Karkat in the face. I laughed so hard I was about to pee myself until the unlucky troll glared daggers at me sharp enough to kill. I couldn't stop smiling. I couldn't get over the fact that finally, I didn't have to feel so alone. It really has been an overwhelming day. Feeling tired again, I trotted off back to my room.

I fell onto my bed and grabbed Karkat's old shirt for comfort, and reluctantly fell asleep.

While in my dream, I regained consciousness with a smiling face peering down at me. Oh hell no. Not again.

I quickly shot up and attacked whoever was there.

A tiny black head fell from the shoulders from my assailant. Oh god, I can't believe I did that... Jesus, where am I now? Looking down, I was dressed in purple rather than gold, and looking out, the tiny people were black instead of white.

"welcome to derse, stranger."

"HELL NO I SWEAR TO GOD WHO ELSE IS GOING TO-" I swung around again, my sword arcing in the light.

It met with a parry, and I was face to face with another human. I lowered my arm.

"Sorry... I thought you were here to kill me too.." I apologized.

"that's cool, but who are you? i haven't seen you before." The stranger said. He looked somewhat like Dave, maybe his older brother?

"I'm Caterina.. I'm a descendant of Jade, and I've been living with the trolls for a while now.. Apparently I have two dream selves? I was killed by Jack on Prospit and now here I am on.. Derse? What a weird name," I said.

I looked at the Dave-look-alike to answer, but he just stood there, stoic.

"Hello...?"

After a few moments he shook himself out of his daze and his eyes focused again.

"Are you okay...?"

"yeah, i'm fine, sorry it's just difficult to keep track of two waking selves at once. actually, i got to go before they realize i'm awake, so you should wake up too. like right now."

"Wait, who are you?"

"name's dirk."

And with that, he pushed me back onto my bed and flew away.

I woke up again with yet another face glaring down at me. Jesus, this was already getting old.

"Karkat? Why are you here?"

"WHERE DID YOU PUT MY CLOTHES THAT I LENT YOU?"

Oh, crap. I slyly tucked the shirt I was clutching further down into the covers.

"Uh..." I trailed off, blushing. I usually don't sleep with pants, and this whole situation was so awkward. How did we keep ending up like this?

"UGH, THIS IS WEIRD ENOUGH, JUST LEAVE THEM IN MY ROOM SOMEWHERE." He said, feeling uncomfortable.

"Wait, Karkat," I quickly gathered his clothes while his back was turned.

"Here," I said, getting out of bed and handing them to him.

"YEAH, THANKS, BYE." he said abruptly, not wanting to see me in my shorts.

"You don't have to act so weird around me, you know," I said. He stopped with his back still towards me in the doorway.

"We're friends, Karkat. If you need anything, I'm here for you."

He didn't respond, and walked away.

I think I was falling for him.

Karkat's POV

I headed towards my respite block, borrowed clothes in hand.

Friends? Is this was being friends feels like? I thought about what she said. Ever since she came on the meteor, there's always been tension between us, we'd either be hating each other, or hitting on one another, or at least it seemed that way. No matter what I did, I always ended up bumping into her. Just being near her made my shameful blood color show through my skin, and I've wanted to just kiss her so bad. I hated it, but I couldn't just stay away. Do friends do that to each other?

"ARGH!" I groaned in frustration. I needed to settle this now.