Nepeta woke up and smiled. Today was the big day. Eridan was coming by to pick her up on his pirate ship, and she wanted to be prepared. She took her ablutions, changed into her usual attire and logged onto Trollian. It was late day; soon it would be dusk and Eridan would meet her on the coast nearby. She had asked Equius to wake early with her and chat on Trollian to help calm her down. She had never been on a pirate ship before and didn't want her usual energetic personality to embarrass he while hanging out with a friend she hardly knew.
arsenicCatnip began trolling centaursTesticle at 7:30pm
AC: :33 *ac pounces playfully on her meowrail, mewling cutely in gr33ting*
CT: D - I was e%pecting you to wake earlier.
AC: :33 no roleplaying?
CT: D - You know I do not participate in such whimsical e%ercises, Nepeta.
AC: :33 paw, you're no fun
CT: D - So I have been told.
CT: D - You wanted to talk to me this early in the evening because of some an%iety over your upcoming date with Eridan, correct?
AC: :33 it is NOT a date
AC: :33 we're just going to hang out and stuff
CT: D - So you say. I hope you are right. I do not like the idea of my moirail entering a quadrant with a seadweller.
AC: :33 equius, don't be like that. ampurra is a purrety nice guy when you get past how cr33py he can be
AC: :33 and don't judge our furiends just beclaws they're seadwellers
CT: D - You will have to e%cuse my disdain for seadwellers. It's strictly professional.
AC: :33 i know but it still bothers me
AC: :33 wait a minute
AC: :33 this all seems purrety familiar
CT: D - Are you referring to the conversation?
CT: D - Yes, I suppose one could take only so much repetition before remembering.
AC: :33 what?
CT: D - One moment, I'll be right over.
Nepeta's screen turned dark and within seconds she realized someone was behind her. Turning, claws at the ready, she was startled to see Equius standing there in her hive. They had met up once or twice in person, but there was something different about him - something she couldn't really define.
"Equius? What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I must apologize in advance for what I'm about to tell you. It will surely be... enlightening." Equius said in cool, even tones as he always did, "I'm afraid that we are both deceased." As Nepeta raised an eyebrow at the statement, Equius removed his cracked sunglasses to reveal that his eyes had become white and pupiless.
"We're dead?" Nepeta asked, unsure how to take the news. On the one hand, death was supposed to be a bad thing, and yet, she didn't feel in pain or anything other than normal. It was like nothing had really happened at all.
"I'm sure you're dealing with a lot of STRONG emotions at the moment." Equius said softly.
"Not really." Nepeta said blandly, "I thought death would be a lot more... painful?"
"Oh it was. I hear it is e%crutiatingly painful to have perished by the Vast Glub." Equius said.
"Vast Glub?" Nepeta blinked, "I died from the Vast Glub?"
"I forget that the newly-deceased tend to e%perience varying degrees of amnesia." Equius crossed his arms, "Please, think back and try to remember what happened."
Nepeta closed her eyes and frowned, "I remember waking up furom my cat-nap and talking to you on Trollian." she said, "I was going to hang out with Ampurra..." A flood of memories came back and she found herself in the living chamber of her hive rather than the room she slept in.
"I can tell you've recalled what happened to some e%tent at least." Equius gave a rare, though tiny, smile.
"Yeah. Ampurra asked to hang out, and we did on his pirate ship." Nepeta said, "There was a meowtiny and we were thrown overboard. We hung out in my hive, and hunted, and..." Nepeta trailed off, blushing.
"I see." Equius said neutrally, "I am assuming the - for lack of a better term - "pailing" was flushed in nature?"
"What?!" Nepeta's face flushed olive, "We did not pail! We just... made out and shared a recupurracoon."
"Oh my."
"It was purrfectly platonic and furiendly until he stole my furst kiss!" Nepeta tried to defend herself, "Though I have to admit, it was purretty great."
"Alright then. I believe you." Equius looked a little too sweaty, "You may cease the defensiveness."
"Defensive? I'm not being defensive!" Nepeta sputtered.
"Relax, Nepeta." Equius tried to placate, "I've seen numerous of Nepetas engaged in various quadrants with numerous Eridans."
"What?" Nepeta asked, taking offguard by the question.
"Ah, yes. I forgot you weren't aware of the nature of post-death e%istence." Equius apologized, "I will take a moment to e%plain dream bubbles and how they function."
Equius explained to Nepeta how Aradia used time powers she obtained from a game - a game that Nepeta's timeline hadn't played - to save all of the doomed versions of the twelve chosen players and give them a semblance of life in floating bubbles made of memories. Nepeta accepted the news rather well, glad to hear that all of her friends - even after dying - were still "alive" in a fashion. Equius said that he wasn't surprised by her response - most Nepetas were ok with dream bubbles.
"I guess that means Ampurra is..?" Nepeta began.
"The seadweller is safe, relatively speaking." Equius nodded, "The Eridan from your timeline is roaming around somewhere."
"How many Ampurras are there?" Nepeta dared to ask.
"I cannot say for sure." Equius shrugged, "Anywhere between a few hundred billion to infinity, I suppose."
"Oh." Nepeta looked crestfallen.
"I'm sure he is nearby, however." Equius smiled, "Aradia typically organizes the dream bubbles in such a way that most doomed timeline ghosts coe%ist happily." Equius began sweating again, "She's very thoughtful. For a peasantb100d."
"Meowgido is nice like that." Nepeta smiled, remembering how much fun they would have roleplaying.
"Yes. She certainly is..." Equius shuddered, sweating more, "...nice."
"Equius, are you alright?"
"I am fine." the blueblood lied, "Pardon me. I seems I have been perspiring STRONGLY. I require a towel."
"Are you just going to leave?" Nepeta frowned.
"I have other business to attend to." Equius informed her, "I am not from your timeline."
"Oh. I kind of furgured that." Nepeta said, downtrodden, "I suppaws I should try and find my Ampurra, right?"
"You may do whatever you like." Equius said, "Though you could do much better than a seadweller who is - and excuse the offensive language - a "hipster douchebag"."
"Hey!" Nepeta scowled, but Equius had already left. She began mumbling to herself, "Ampurra might be a hipster douchebag, but he's my hipster douchebag."
It wasn't hard to find where the majority of the ghosts had massed together. Their combined memories had created a veritable city of hives, Prospitian and Dersite spires, waterways, jungles, deserts, castles, mansions and sea vessels. Nepeta quickly discovered which of her friends were which, matching the color of their text to the color of the symbol on their shirts. She was pleased to see all of her friends there - except, oddly, Gamzee. For awhile, she didn't try to talk to anyone except the duplicates of Equius and Eridan, trying to find either her long-time moirail or her recent matesprit, but none of them were hers.
"Hey! There's another one!" Nepeta heard a familiar voice from behind her followed by a lot of squeals of the same voice. Turning, she was suddenly rushed by a horde of duplicates of herself. Some were the same age or older than her, but most were younger. Some wore silly purple pajamas or odd, pink costumes with heart symbols on them.
"What's going on?" Nepeta asked, taken by surprise.
"What was your timeline like?"
"Were you flushed for anyone?"
"Was it Karkitty?"
"Did Meowkara and Tavros get together in your timeline?"
"What about Catpurr and Ampurra?"
"Ooo! Red- or blackrom?"
Nepeta began sweating from anxiety and pried the other Nepetas off of her, earning some breathing space. The Nepetas were split between waiting anxiously or giving curious looks at her. For simplicity's sake, the protagonist Nepeta will be referred to as "Nepeta 1".
"Uh..." Nepeta 1 stuttered, not sure how to react to this latest turn of events, "What do all of you - er - me want?"
"We want to know what your timeline was like!" an older Nepeta, an apparent leader of the group, said, "And the ships."
"The ships?" Nepeta 1 blinked.
"Yes!" Nepeta 2 squealed, "The ships! There's so many timelines, so nearly every ship has been played out! It's a shippurr's paradise!"
"Oh." Nepeta 1's eyes widened. She had never thought about the dream bubbles that way. Suddenly she was excited. Every ship she ever loved was real somewhere in the dream bubbles. She answered her doppelgangers, "You asked about my timeline's ships? I am in a meowrallegience with Equius."
"The purrfect meowrail."
"Undoubtedly."
"We had problems..." one Nepeta said softly, but the others merely gave her a hug and giggled. Nepeta 1 never realized how much she purred until she heard it around her in such volumes, but she didn't mind. In fact, it was rather enjoyable.
"Sollux and Aradia are in a matespritship, last I checked." Nepeta 1 said. Several other Nepetas cheered and a few others looked a little disappointed but still happy. "And I recently entered a matespritship with Ampurra."
Dead silence. The other Nepetas were stunned. When the shock wore off, a few of them cringed while others looked away, trying to focus on anything else. Nepeta 1 raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Sorry." Nepeta 2 offered a smile, but it was a little strained, "It's just that very few Nepetas actually like Ampurra, let alone love him."
"Why's that?" Nepeta 1 asked, a little offended.
"I don't know what your timeline was like, but in my timeline he was a jerk." Nepeta 2 said. This was followed by a chorus of agreements and follow-up complaints.
"He kept hitting on me..."
"He always wanted to pail. With ANYONE."
"He stole Karkitty from me."
"He killed Equius."
The list went on for a time, the complaints ranging from simple observations of his arrogant attitude to horrible crimes particular Eridans had committed - including rape, genocide, murder, and sometimes all three. Nepeta 1 blanched, surprised that any Eridan could commit such heinous crimes. Granted, with infinite alternate timelines, wasn't it likely that every player had committed the same crimes in at least a few timelines. With that in mind, she didn't feel any more relieved - just more worried.
"Well my Ampurra is different!" Nepeta 1 stomped forward, startling the other Nepetas out of their rants, "He stood up for me against his own crew, and we got thrown ofurboard for it and he wasn't angry at me beclaws of it! Then he saved me furom drowning and swam me to shore! And he stole my first kiss, but it was pawesome and I loved it and I love him!" Nepeta 1 tipped her head back and shouted to anyone who could hear, "I LOVE ERIDAN AMPORA!"
"Wow." one of the Nepetas blinked, "That was... so romantic!"
"I know, right?!"
"Of all the EriNeps I've seen so far, there's is the cutest!"
"Catfish is my new OTP! After SolNep, of course. Ah... Sollux."
Nepeta 1 smiled at the sudden change in attitude, but then frowned. She was really easy to manipulate, apparently. That didn't help her uneasy mood at all - a lot of self-discovery was happening, and a bit too quickly for her tastes. To make matters worse, an arm wrapped around her shoulders. Turning her head, she saw Eridan's face, but rather than the warm, loving sensation she had felt for the Eridan from her timeline, she felt very put off by his arrogant smirk.
"Wwell, hello there Nep." the Eridan winked. Behind him were a few dozen other Eridans - all apparently single and willing to date a Nepeta. The other Nepetas were hissing.
"Get out of here, creeps!" one of them said.
"Or wwhat? It's a free dream bubble, last time I checked!"
"You Ampurras make me so furryous!"
"Careful! One a us could get a caliginous vvibe from that."
"Ewwwww! As if I'd hate any fursion of you, fish-dick!"
"Kitty litter!"
"Brine sucker!"
"Hairball!"
Nepeta 1 slowly backed out of the fray as Nepetas and Eridans shouted insults at each other. One had already unholstered Ahab's Crosshairs, but a Nepeta had jumped in and sliced the weapon in half before slapping the Eridan out of the way. All at once the two sides moved into fight with mixed results. A large amount of Nepetas stayed out of the fighting, while a small amount of Eridans likewise avoided conflict. The Nepetas were outnumbered, but the Eridans were so desperate to fill quadrants, so it seemed, that they avoided killing and turned on each other frequently.
Having absconded the area, Nepeta 1 (who shall now be referred to, again, as just "Nepeta") continued her search for her timeline's Eridan. She was filled with turmoil. She had just seen many different versions of herself, all so firmly against any version of Eridan. Granted, there were other Eridan and Nepeta couples out there, but how rare and despised they seemed to her duplicates made Nepeta doubt herself. After all, she wasn't from the "right" timeline anyway. Didn't that mean that her and Eridan were never meant to be? Didn't that mean that her emotions were a lie?
Confused, Nepeta continued her search for the troll of her conflicted emotions. She walked for a ways before feeling something - a familiar pulling sensation. She looked around, trying to locate it. So many of her friends everywhere, but one stood out somehow.
"uHHH. hEY THERE, UH, nEPETA." Tavros Nitram waved nervously as he approached, "i DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT, UH, i THINK YOU'RE THE nEPETA FROM MY TIMELINE?"
"Tavros!" Nepeta glomped her friend, "Oh my goodness! I've been looking everywhere fur my friends! I'm so glad to find one!"
"wELL, THERE ARE A LOT OF FRIENDS AROUND." Tavros laughed, "lIKE, UH, THERE'S THE TWELVE OF US, BUT, UM, BILLIONS OF US?"
"I knew what you meant, silly!" Nepeta giggled, "But I've only seen eleven of us."
"oH, WELL i'VE SEEN ALL TWELVE OF US." Tavros smiled, but cringed and blushed a little, "gAMZEE TRIED TO HIT ON ME..."
"You've seen Gamzee?" Nepeta gasped.
"yEAH, HE WAS ALIVE AND, UH, WEARING THIS WEIRD PURPLE OUTFIT." Tavros explained, "i THINK THEY CALL IT A GOD TIER?"
"Sounds right." Nepeta shrugged. Nepeta brightened a little, "You wouldn't happen to know where Ampurra is, would you?"
"eRIDAN? lIKE, UH, OUR eRIDAN?"
"Yep!"
"nO, SORRY. pLENTY OF OTHERS AROUND, THOUGH." Tavros said, then looked at the ground, "aLSO HITTING ON ME..."
"I really miss him." Nepeta pouted.
"eRIDAN? i THOUGHT YOU TWO DIDN'T GET ALONG. uH, OR DID SOMETHING HAPPEN?"
"We became matesprits befur the vast glub got us." Nepeta said wistfully.
"oH, CONGRATULATIONS!" Tavros said, but then looked around awkwardly, "i MEAN, ON THE FILLING A QUADRANT. nOT THE DYING. tHAT'S, UH, PRETTY UNFORTUNATE."
"Yeah. It sucked." Nepeta sighed, "Do you know where any of our other furiends are?"
"fROM OUR TIMELINE? uH, i THINK i SAW tEREZI AWHILE AGO, BUT i, UM, LOST HER..."
"I guess we'll just have to go hunting fur them, then." Nepeta sighed.
"yEAH, PROBABLY." Tavros shrugged.
"Let's go, then."
Nepeta led the way through further hordes of friends, searching frantically for the connection she shared with Tavros. She would find her friends, and her matesprit. She had never felt more determined about anything in her life - or afterlife, in this case.
She would find Eridan Ampora.