LAST TIME ON NEW GENERATION
()
"Tavros! If you sink into depression so early in the g8me you're gonna 8e worthless with your cool legs! So 8uck up pupa!" Vriska slaps Tavros' shoulder a little with a big fangy smile... and Tavros nods with a tiny smile.
"yEAH... i'LL MAKE SURE TO GET STRONGER THAN EVER... aND I'M GONNA LAST UNTIL I CAN FIGHT BESIDE GAMZEE AGAIN!"
"THAT'S the spirit! ONWARD guys! To the city!" Vriska runs forward ahead of everyone and Kanaya chases after her.
"Aww That Was So Nice Of You Vriska."
"I was just 8eing real with him. 8esides, this is W8Y more fun than 8eing dead on a dum8 island. ::::)"
()()
"So... How was your talk with your friends?" Future Gamzee looks at his hands a little... and clenches them tightly.
"It WaS wAy ToO gOoD mAn..."
"Are you going to cry?"
"No, DoN't Be DuMb... I jUsT... mIsS 'eM iS aLl..."
"I know you do Gamzee... But you'll see them soon, remember?"
"I kNoW... wE wIlL gEt To SeE tHeM sOoN... So I'M sToPpInG tImE fOr Us GoT iT?"
"I got it. Go for it man." The older and now larger Atori sits down on the ground and sighs.
"DoN't GeT tOo CoMfY. AnD dOn'T bLiNk. ThEy'Ll Be HeRe In A CoUpLe SeCoNdS."
"Don't get comfortable?"
"DaS rIgHt. HeRe We Go..." Gam grabs up some old worn white wands... and smiles at them a little... then squeezes them and the entire world goes quiet and still.
()
Gamzee and Atori walk to a separate tent, the other trolls following behind quietly.
"So. WhAt TeStS dO i GoTtA dO?"
"Well, the same thing we do to teach all of our subjuggulators. Jesus you really HAVEN'T been around other purple bloods have you?"
"NaH mAn."
"Have you been around ANYONE? What about your lusus?"
"My LuSuS... HeH. My StOrY iS a LoNg OnE bRo."
"Hm. I guess it would be. I have a lot of questions for you. But I'll have to wait until your little tests are over."
"YeAh. TeLl Me AbOuT tHoSe." Atori takes a breath, ready to explain it all, but lets it out seeing as how they get to a dead end.
"WeLl WhAt ThE mOtHeRfUcK iS tHiS?"
"Keep your spotted pants on." The larger troll walks forward and yanks a little cord. Parts of the tent start to move, and reveal a... a stage?
Atori walks over to it and motions for Gamzee to get his ass over there. So Gamzee complies and gets on the stage. There are no chairs for spectators.
The other trolls file in and stand there, waiting.
"Don't be scared okay?" Atori whispers to Gamzee, who only squints.
"YoU'rE fUcKiN jOkIn' RiGhT? I aIn'T sCaReD oF nOtHiNg."
"We'll see..." He stands back and Gamzee stands there at the center of the stage. Atori yanks a different rope, and circus props pop up from the floor and some fall from the ceiling. There are rings of fire, acrobatic swings, aerial hoops, and various other things.
"Gamzee. You will do some traditional exercises. Most of them require a couple things that you have to figure out yourself."
"WaIt We'Re SeRiOuSlY dOiNg CiRcUs AcTs?" Gamzee raises an eyebrow high and almost slumps. Atori simply nods and states factually,
"Of Course. Partners will come up and you gotta do the special acts alright?"
"Uh... SuRe. I'vE nEvEr DoNe AnY oF tHeSe BeFoRe ThOuGh." Everyone in the tent including Atori gasps, eyes wide.
"You're joking... There's no way!"
"I'm... ToTaLlY sErioUs. I mEaN, i'Ve SeEn A cOuPlE oF tHeSe On My OlD hUsKtOp..."
Everyone whispers as if not doing the tricks was against their very nature.
And it was.
"Well... You have a lot to learn..." Atori looks to the crowd and points out people and calls their names. The ones called quickly come up to the stage. All ages and sizes come to the stage. Seven people come to the stage.
A tall burly man with tiger make up. "Grooga."
A very thin but tall woman wearing bird face paint. "Chebur."
A very old thin, but built man, splatters on his face. "Kloshe."
A small boy probably only 2 sweeps old with flame makeup. He looks proud to have been called on stage, a big smile ripping his face nearly in half. "Teiono."
A slightly older girl, maybe 4 sweeps with a very sad frown on her face. Her makeup appears to be a monkey. "Persha."
A boy about Gamzee's age with long straight hair and a very serious face steps up and seems to stare Gamzee down... His makeup is that of a dragon. "Marsho"
And finally, a very strong looking woman comes up and she looks like she hasn't had pie for days. Or maybe she's eating or drinking something else, because she looks like a crazy bitch. Her hair is in a pony tail, but her whole head is spiked and curled in random places much like Gamzee's. "Reznia."
Reznia's make up doesn't look like anything specifically other than possibly an acid trip with paint.
"These are your partners okay?"
"Uh, YeAh SuRe." Gamzee looks over them all carefully and takes a liking to Teiono, the boy with flame makeup.
"HeY kId."
"Hello! I'm very proud to be one of your partners for this training exercise Grand Highblood!" Persha, the sad frown elbows him a little.
"Don't talk to loud..." Atori clears his throat.
"Gamzee... ah this is pretty hard now since you don't even know what these tricks are. But we won't show any mercy and show you. You'll learn on your own."
"YeAh. GoT iT." All seven people run at Gamzee and Marsho, the boy with long straight hair pushes Gamzee very hard at the shoulder, knocking him back on his ass.
"Ah?!" Gamzee falls right on his ass and looks at Marsho like WHAT THE FUCK BRO.
"Get up." Gam looks totally confuse, but gets up and is quickly grabbed my old man Kloshe and thrown in the air. For such an old guy he is buff as shit. Gamzee flails his arms and legs in the air having literally zero idea about what's going on.
As Gamzee gets tossed around, the clowns in the audience laugh at him and his failures to catch on. They laugh hard and long, pushing each other and pointing at their... uh... well, lacking leader.
Gamzee does his best to slow things down and analyze what's happening. What he does see is Atori's slightly disappointed face.
Oh shit.
Looks like he's gotta really focus.
He finally lands on his feet and gets a good look at what everyone is doing. Flips are some of what he sees. Oh shit they're seriously doing like gym and circus stuff.
For a long time Gamzee gets pushed and swing and flown in the air and he has no idea how to deal with any of it. How does he react? When does he flip? Does he flip? Does he fight or what? What the hell is going on? Everyone here is so skilled.
They flip and land gracefully. They toss each other around like rocks, but no one seems to be at all confused as to their parts in this whole... this Cruiqe du what the fuck fuckin fuckery theater!
"An hour of complete and utter failure passes and Gamzee ends up on his face, nearly everyone laughing and pointing at him. He hears people from the crowd call rude things to him.
"You'll never get it you—"
"Worthless piece of shit!"
"Booooo!"
"Get outta here!"
"Stay down shit head!"
Gamzee can feel various feelings swelling up. Broken pride, complete puzzlement and above all... he feels like an absolute failure. Trolls begin to leave swiftly out of the tent, knowing Gamzee couldn't do a damn thing on that stage.
Atori sighs and walks over to the downed boy.
Although he doesn't get there before Teiono, who slides to his knees at Gamzee.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! They really shouldn't laugh at you..."
"Don't console him Teiono. He failed and he knows it. Look at his face." The sad Persha finally cracks a disgusting smirk, looking down at Gamzee.
"How the fuck did you kill our true Grand Highblood if you can't even do simple tricks?" Marsho folds his arms and looks down at him with heavy disdain...
The crazy looking girl Reznia stomps over and grabs Gamzee up by his hoody and stands him up and says absolutely nothing... An eerie silence.
"Now now everyone, give the fucker a chance." Atori steps up and brushes Gamzee off. The younger troll can't help but see the disappointment in his face and... even though he's only known him for a while, it crushes him to see he let someone he trusts down.
"Did you learn... ANYTHING at all from this?..."
When Gamzee can't answer, Atori just shakes his head and looks down.
"Well then... This is gonna take a while." He walks off and rubs the back of his head... but the other trolls stay there.
After a while, Gamzee finally sits up and leans back on his arms.
"FuCk..."
"Yeah, fuck is right. That was utterly pathetic." Grooga folds his muscular arms and looks down at Gamzee.
"WhY aReN't YoU lEaViNg?" The crazy looking girl Reznia grumbles something incoherent and walks away... Persha sighs and walks off, her sad face back in place, followed by Grooga and the others.
The tent is empty now and Gamzee just sits there.
What the hell sort of training exercise was that supposed to be? How was that supposed to prove anything? How does that make him a better leader to these people?...
It bugged him and he thought the whole thing was stupid. What a complete waste of time. After the show he seemed to put up that morning it all looked really ridiculous and now the fucking grand highblood Gamzee was just sitting on the floor confused and defeated...
He takes a look back at the seemingly random props... Maybe he should practice. He has no idea how a lot of them work, but...
For the rest of the day Gamzee lazily swings from the acrobat aerial swings and just tries to get a general feeling for it. He quickly becomes discouraged though...
Why did any of this matter?... Why did he have to become the stupid highblood... why was he the only one left? Why couldn't his friends be there with him? It just... doesn't make sense. None of it.
Gamzee sits on the edge of the stage and hangs his head low...
Why can't he just be dead?
()
The cave is long and as opposed to the insane heat of the desert above them, it's FREEZING down here.
The group continues to run, still thinking about that future Gamzee they spoke to... He said that three sweeps would pass before they could see him...
"What do you think Gamzee is planning?..." Equius looks over at Eridan who looks deep in thought.
"I honestly aint got a clue Eq. But either wway wwe gotta get up there."
Aradia bites the inside of her cheek...
"I d0n't understand. H0w did he get all the way back here in time? He said he c0uld be seen as the new Handmaid right? H0w c0uld that be?"
"Maybe he's using some weird juggalo voodoo shit!"
"M4YB3. G4MZ33 C4N B3 V3RY UNPR3D1CT4BL3... H3 H4S SOM3TH1NG UP H1S SL33V3, TH4T'S W1THOUT 4 DOUBT."
"Purriska—"
"I swear to god Nepeta—"
"Just listen to me! Maybe the Handmaid gave him special powers! He was the only one that was sepurrated from us other than Pawlux... And he said that Pawlux was there and efurything! Sooo maybe she saw this and planned for it?"
"That Isn't Totally Unlikely. Aradia, On Your Journeys With Her, You Saw Many Things Happen And You Had To Plan In Advance Correct? She'd Been Doing It For Her Whole Life Probably, So She's Seen Many Various Things Including Our Futures Obviously."
"YEAH. SO I'M GUESSING ALL THE SHIT WE'VE BEEN FORCED TO GO THROUGH HAS ALL BEEN LEADING UP TO THIS SHIT?"
"PROB4BLY. 1'M JUST 4 L1TTL3 BOTH3R3D... WHY WOULD 4NYON3 P1CK G4MZ33 TO GO 1NTO TH3 FUTUR3 1NST34D OF ON3 OF US? L1K3 M3."
"Uh, or MEEEEEEEE! It's not fair that Gamzee got to—"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP. GAMZEE'S OBVIOUSLY THE RIGHT ONE FOR THIS JOB."
"Rawr, Karkat's getting snippy!" Vriska pops an eyebrow up and looks to the side at him.
"HE MUST HAVE GONE THROUGH A LOT TO TALK TO US EVEN FOR THAT SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME."
"Karkat's right." Aradia nods a little.
"Traveling thr0ugh time is n0 easy task. It takes l0ng h0urs and days and sweeps 0f practice. And seeing as h0w he t0ld us he hadn't seen us in a very l0ng time..."
"aW... gAMZEE. iT MUST HAVE BEEN HELL FOR HIM."
"HE PROBABLY—"
"Look There!" Kanaya suddenly points ahead of them and skids to a stop, everyone slowly stopping and bumping into each other.
Everyone looks up where Kanaya points, and there in front of them is... a HUGE slug type of creature! It appears to be big enough to have... made the entire tunnel itself. It sits there right in their way looking down at them with it's weird slug eyes...
Tavros steps forward a little bit to it...
"u..uH... eXCUSE ME! wE NEED TO GET THROUGH HERE! cOULD YOU... MAYBE MOVE A LITTLE BIT SO WE CAN PASS? pLEASE?"
The slug doesn't move for a while... until it begins to bend down to them and feel Tavros with its little feelers on its face. It's super gross and slimy and Tav is covered with go when the slug backs off a little.
The white slug creature slips out of the way into another hole.
"WHOA. DID THAT THING JUST LISTEN TO YOU?"
"uH... YEAH IT DID. i FEEL LIKE IT WAS A LUSUS AT SOME POINT..."
"I thought the same thing." Equius folds his arms and nods a little bit...
"Well then! Let's shake a leg guys!"
"Ew!... Speaking of legs..." Feferi points down at their feet. The whole floor is bones and skulls and old horns...
"Oh My..."
"That's fuckin sick. So... I'm guessin' that there thing was guarding the path?..."
"1T'S B33N W41T1NG FOR US 1T S33MS."
"Aww... Look at it." Nepeta runs up to the creature and watches it sizzle away, decaying and rotting into the rocks."
"Eugh. It smells horrible..."
"Uh, you mean 'THANK YOU' fishy face?"
"Uh yeah... Sure."
Karkat watches the slug disappear and Vriska just grabs his and Nepeta's hands.
"Let's go. We have a jo8 to do remem8er?"
"Yeah... I remempurr..." Nepeta nods a little and goes to adjust her hat- that she doesn't have anymore. It was destroyed in the last fight with that stupid sea hitler. She sighs, but is quickly back papped by Equius. His glasses are gone too.
The group continues on down the tunnel cave thing. It's not nearly as populated by things as it was before the slug thing. It looks like nothing was allowed past that thing.
"I HATE HAVING TO WONDER ABOUT THINGS..."
"Well Karkat," Feferi starts. "You aren't the only one. I mean... not to make it sound like your feelings aren't valid, but we all hate it. And we have to work together and stick together. We have to talk to each other and get the right information out. I think we'll make it and everything will get solved!"
"You're so optimistic Fef..." Eridan of course wasn't so sure about all of this.
Kanaya continues to lead the way and just waves her hand back at them.
"I Think That's Quite Enough Eridan. You May Not Be Quite As Positive As Some Of Us... But Even Though Gamzee Is A Strange One And He's Hardly Been Trust Worthy The Last Sweep Or So... I Believe That He's Worked Through Many Things And Has Become A Different Person."
"i'M SCARED HE'LL BE TOO DIFFERENT."
"Oh?"
"yEAH... wHAT IF HE'S JUST SOME GUY WHO LOOKS LIKE GAMZEE BUT ISN'T REALLY?"
"Well Tavros He Remembered You And Seemed To Miss You Very Much When We Spoke To Him. I Think You Should Keep That In Mind While We Travel. We Have Three Sweeps To Go And We Have To Keep Our Chins Up." Tavros looks down a little bit... and stares at his legs as he walks...
"yEAH. i'LL TRY MY HARDEST."
After many many hours of traveling Kanaya gasps and runs forward!
"This Is The End!"
"HOW DO YOU KNOW FOR SUR3?"
"Light! There's light! Equius look! Karkat!"
"YEAH I SEE IT. FINALLY. I'M COLD AS SHIT."
"The question is guys are wwe in the city or outside of the fuckin' gates?"
"Let me see here." Feferi rushes ahead and comes up next to Kanaya.
"Lift me up and I'll see if I can see something."
"Careful, Go Slow."
"Fef wwhy don't you let me do it?" Eridan steps forward a little worriedly, but Feferi waves him off.
"Eridan I'm not a grub." Kanaya boosts Feferi up slowly and Feferi reaches up to the light. The moment she touches it, sand pours in over her and Kanaya gaining some girly yells echoing down the tunnel.
"Fef Dammit I fuckin' told you!"
"Eridan shut your glubbin gills for a second!" She shakes it off and Kanaya spits to the side, making a grossed out face. Who knows what was in that sand. EUGH.
Feferi slowly peeks her head up, trying to keep her horns down so it wouldn't be too obvious... And as she looks side to side they're just inside the walls. With a gasp, she leans down saying "Guys we made it inside the wall! We're in the city! And we're right where Gamzee said we would land!"
"Ah good! Well so far so good. I'm ready to get into that hive."
"Same here... S0me f00d w0uld be very nice right ab0ut n0w."
"Allow me to hoist you all up." Equius walks up and Feferi smiles.
"You're so sweet Equius..."
"Look here, I'm goin' first. If anyone fucks wwith us wwhile wwe're comin' out I'll blast 'em."
"Eridan at least TRY to keep a low profile..."
"Yeah yeah. Alright Eq let's go."
"Yes."
Equius positions himself against the edge of the tunnel which was a very nice sight by the way, and threads his fingers together. Eridan goes up and puts his shoe in Equius' hand and is easily pushed up to the surface. He jumps up and crawls through, taking an extra good look around. This area looks like trolls didn't even traverse this little back alley way. He nods and goes back.
"Alright wwe're clear up here. Keep it dowwn though. Fef come on up."
"Right." Feferi takes her turn and steps up, getting pushed up and then pulled up by Eridan. This follows with Kanaya, Vriska, Terezi with Karkat behind her to make sure she didn't fall. He was next, then Tavros and Aradia at last. Equius was used to hiding his curious eyes behind those broken glasses, so when he and Aradia make eye contact, the maroon blood keeps her foot on his hand and her own hands on his shoulder for a moment longer... Then jumps up with Equius' help.
"Alright up ya go Equius." Eridan and Tavros grab each of Equius' hands and yank him up. Equius lands on his feet and suddenly the hole closes up as if it had never been there. The group looks at it a little stunned, and they suddenly wonder why they are surprised by anything anymore. Honestly.
"Right which way then?"
Nepeta sniffs at the air a little and folds her arms...
"This way."
"Huh?" Feferi looks at her and then reaches out for her when Nepeta runs quickly down the back of the alley!
"Hey! _ "
"Sshhh!" They all chase after Nepeta and try their best to be quiet. Nepeta stops abruptly and places her back against the wall. the others follow suit and try to whisper but she holds her hand up to shush everyone. A child's ball rolls into view and everyone tries to shrink and hide and almost become one with the freaking wall. A little blueblooded boy runs up and grabs the ball.
"We're gonna get caught come on!" The boys friend calls to him.
"Yeah. Look the coulds are coming! Run for it!" The two boys run away quickly and our group looks at each other with wide eyes. Nepeta looks up where the one boy looked and sees the purple clouds rushing in.
"We gotta run for it!" Nepeta books it forward and the others do their best to follow. Finally FINALLY they see the little abandoned hive Gamzee told them about!
"There! Hurry up!"
"Anyone else having De ja vu?"
"Oh Hush." Kanaya rushes past Vriska and jumps behind Tavros who gets to the door first somehow. He grabs the handle and pulls on it, but—
"iT'S STUCK!"
"Are you serious!? Outta the way Tavros!" Vriska jumps up the four stairs and pulls at it.
"IF YOU FUCKING IDIOTS WOULD CALM DOWN AND GET OUT OF MY WAY..." Karkat gets Vriska out of the way and PUSHES the door in.
"Oh. Well then."
"YEAH, YA FUCKIN' IDIOTS." Karkat goes inside and everyone quickly follows, Equius being the last one, making sure everyone was inside. He closes the door behind them and they all pant to catch their breath for a second. Aradia looks up and itches her shoulder, a single drop having hit her, and she spots the clothes.
"Ah l00k. Just like bef0re when we were still at the 0ther hive."
"Oh yeah wwould ya look at that." The purple writing doesn't show up like it did before in their weird little vision, and the clothes are just hanging on the walls in order of blood caste. Their names are written above each set and everyone slowly goes to their own set of clothes. Each one has a teges folded neatly on the floor.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE?" Kanaya picks hers up and unfolds it.
"It appears to be a shield from the rain. A rain coat?"
"YEAH. MAYBE IT KEEPS THE ACID OFF OF US?"
"tHAT'D SURE BE NICE." Tavros nods and looks at everyone's clothes.
"W3LL DO TH3Y 4T L34ST LOOK GOOD?"
"Well Terezi, Most Of Everyone's Clothes Are A Different Shade Of Blue Or Purple."
"HUH? 1S 1T B3C4US3 TH1S PL4C3 1S MOSTLY 4 BUNCH OF H1GH3R C4ST3 BLOOD3D TROLLS?"
"That looks like the case. Luckily me and Equius don't have to change anything. We fit in normally around here. Eridan too even."
"Wwhat do you mean 'ERIDEN TOO'?" Vriska laughs a little and waves it off.
"Well let's get these babies on!"
"yOU GUYS DO THAT. i'M GONNA GO GET SOME STUFF TO EAT." Tavros turns and goes to the other side of the room and opens up that little closet with all of their food in it. He shuffles through it and spots a folded piece of paper.
"? mM?" He picks it up and unfolds it. It's in Gamzee's goofy quirk- wait he can write? Since when?
"HeY tAvRoS. DaMn I mIsS yOu MaN :o( AnY tImE yOu GeT sAd Or FeEl LiKe GiViNg Up, I wAnT yOu To ReAd ThIs NoTe AnD rEmEmBeR tHaT i'M cOuNtInG oN yOu AnD wAiTiNg FoR yOu. YoU'rE a VaLuAbLe MeMbEr Of OuR gRoUp Of FrIeNdS aNd... MoSt ImPoRtAnTlY sOmEoNe I cArE aBoUt A lOt. HeH tHiS sOuNdS pReTtY cHeEsY bUt It'S tRuE. So LiKe I sAiD, iF yOu FeEl DoWn In ThE dUmPs, JuSt LoOk At ThIs NoTe AnD sMiLe FoR mE pLeAsE? I'lL sEe Ya.
YoUr ReD qUaDrAnT,
gAmZeE. :o)"
Tavros' eyes are wide and he just bites his lips with the biggest smile ever... He'd be absolutely sure to hold onto the note forever...
"Hey Tavros are you 8ringin' food or what?"
"aH YEAH SORRY! hOLD ON!" He folds the note back up and puts it in his jacket pocket, then grabs a case of food and brings it out.
By then everyone's got their blood disguises on.
"I wonder why we have to disguise ourselves like this! I mean... will they really kill us if they see we have different blood colors?"
"NEPETA THAT'S HOW IT IS... THAT'S HOW IT WAS ON ALTERNIA REMEMBER? PEOPLE LIKE ME. IF ANYONE FOUND OUT ABOUT MY MUTANT ASS THEY'D HAVE CULLED ME THE SECOND THEY KNEW. VRISKA SAID SHE SAW ONLY BLUE BLOOD LIKE BUILDINGS AND TENTS AND STUFF, SO THIS CITY PROBABLY DOESN'T HAVE ANY LOWER BLOOD COLORS. I THINK IF THEY SAW ME OR ARADIA OR YOU OR TAVROS WALKING AROUND WITH OUR REGULAR OUTFITS ON THEY'D FLIP A BITCH. BESIDES I THINK GAMZEE KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING. THIS ISN'T ANYTHING NEW FOR ME. IF I HAVE TO BE A DIFFERENT COLOR BLOOD TO SAVE SOLLUX THEN I'LL DO IT." Karkat nods to himself and looks at his Equius blue shirt. The sign is different. Everyone seems to know who the rebellious Signless was apparently so his sign has been changed.
Aradia's a Vriska cobalt blue, while Nepeta Kanaya and Terezi are variations of that blue going up and down the shades for that color. Eridan has to wear a hat to cover his fish fins and it bothers him SO FUCKING MUCH. He's an Equius blue along with Feferi who just uses her hair to cover up her fins. She has to take off her little tiara that shows off her pink color and they all look at each other.
"Tavros waht about you?"
"oH ME? lET'S SEE. i'M EQUIUS' COLOR."
"Well. I Guess We're Gonna Have To Come Up With An Excuse For Why We're All Suddenly In This Place."
Kanaya folds his arms, fairly uncomfortable in this outfit. Wearing a different color makes her a little sad. She feels like she can guess how Karkat has felt, having to always wear grey instead of that beautiful pure red color. She never minded it much and enjoyed looking at it. When Karkat showed it to her outright at the first hive when they got there, it made her so happy that he was comfortable with her...
"Let's just... Let's eat first. I dunno about the rest of ya, but I'm starvvin' to death."
"aH RIGHT! i SAW SOME WATER IN THE CLOSET LET ME GET IT." Everyone sits down and Tavros gets the water quickly.
"Hey you look like you're doin' pretty good with those sweet legs huh Tavros? Your arms gotta 8e happy they're getting a 8reak from pushing you in the wheel chair."
"yEAH NO THANKS TO YOU."
"Tavros I said—"
"i'M OVER IT. i DO FEEL BETTER NOW THOUGH. i CAN USE MY ARM STRENGTH FOR SOMETHING OTHER THAN PUSHING MYSELF AROUND IN THAT THING... bUT I'M NOT GONNA SIT AROUND AND LET MY MUSCLES GET WEAK AND DISAPPEAR. wE HAVE A BIG JOB AHEAD OF US AND I WANT TO REALLY BE OF USE." He looks up at his friends after he sets the water down an sits on his metal rear. Feferi smiles widely at him.
"Tavros you're always of use. I think you're the only one telling yourself that you're worthless or of no use."
"Yeah! Tafuros you're big and strong! You fought really hard against the condescension with us and the highblood and it was just like I always knew you could! So don't doubt yourself okay? Because you're super cool!"
"a-aH, NEPETA YOU'RE GONNA MAKE ME BLUSH." Tavros smiles super widely, his sharp teeth sticking out and his grey cheeks tinting orange.
Everyone grabs their food and eats it. It doesn't need heating up or anything. They just pour a little water in it and it cooks itself!
"1 TH1NK TH1S WOULD H4V3 B33N 4 P3RF3CT T1M3 FOR G4MZ33 TO S4Y TH3T TH1S W4S 4 M1R4CL3." Terezi chuckles a little and sniffs the food. It smells SO good and she just wants to eat the whole damn thing. Aradia hands her a fork and everyone grabs little bagged utensils and they all dig in.
The rain outside pounds on the hive and a thick steam rises outside with things that burn. Aradia looks out of the window while she eats and just stares at it.
She used to love listening to the rain on Alternia beating on her windows. She misses being able to go outside and dance in it and dig things up from the mud.
How things have changed...
The night comes quick and nearly everyone passes out on the floor on the mats and sleeping bags and pillows provided by Gamzee.
Feferi is sitting up watching the rain continue to fall with a worried expression on her face.
Eridan can't quite sleep so he looks back at her and just stares...
"Fef. Wwe're gonna get him back, you hear?" Feferi jolts a little and looks at Eridan. Her eyes slowly fill with tears and she looks away and down at her lap.
Eridan frowns and gets up and sits next to her.
"Eridan... I'm so scared..." She puts her fists to her eyes and cries without a sound. Eridan can only look down at his own legs and nods a little.
"I'm scared too... Things ain't the same as they used to be. It wwas all pretty simple back then compared to now. Wwe'd bicker about the dumbest shit."
"Th-That can't be all you remember a-about us."
"Fef, honestly after all this time of thinkin' I don't think there ever wwas an 'us' to speak of."
"W-What? Not even as ... moirails?"
"No. Especially not as moirails... You alwways took care of me Feferi. You wwent out of your wway to help me and make me feel better... and all I did wwas wwhine and... LET you do the all the wwork. I didn't carry my owwn wweight and I'll nevver be able to apologize enough for that. Evver. I didn't mean to ruin things so fuckin' bad... I wwas... so stupid. I didn't see wwhat I had in front of me and I only thought of myself and had pity parties and I wwanted others to feel bad for me too. At least that wway I could get some attention."
"Eridan... I'm..."
"Don't you dare say that you're sorry."
"H-Huh?"
"You should absolutely not be sorry for a single fuckin' thing you hear me?" He looks at her finally and she looks at him with her tear filled eyes.
"I wwas the one wwho couldn't see wwhat I had. I already had friends. I was a fuckin' douche bag and all I did wwas let it all swim right ovver my head. I messed up. I messed up wwith all of you. I screwwed it all up wwith you and I screwwed it up with Sol too. And then we got to that dead planet and I fucked it up evven more. Heh... but Fef listen. I'm gonna make it better okay?..."
"Eridan..."
"I'm gonna showw you that I'm not some pouty wworthless sack of shit with seaweed for brains. I don't... I don't care wwhat I havve to do to savve Sollux. If I get him back to you and make you happy again it'll all be wworth it. I knoww no amount of apologetic wwords I throww at you wwill change the past and wwhat I'vve done. But I'm gonna do my absolute best to at least balance it out by doin' some good." Feferi puts her hand on Eridan's and he looks at her again. Her face is even more sad than before.
"You... You already..." She lets a sob escape her throat and she squeezes his hand harder.
"Eridan you dummy... You died for us... You knew what you were doing. You knew you were going to make us mad at you for what you did. You knew you were doing the right thing and you sacrificed all connections with us to do what had to be done. You protected me and saved me so many times! You died... You glubbing died because you knew that you had to... And then even after that your s-stupid corpse came back and helped us fight... Eridan you idiot! You've done s-so much for us!" Her pink tears stain her face and she sobs into her free hand. Eridan frowns and holds her hand back.
"See though? I'm still makin' you cry though...
"You're so stupid!" Feferi twists all the way and hugs Eridan tightly around the neck and cries into his shoulder. Eridan's eyes go a little wide... When was the last time he really... HUGGED Feferi?... He relaxes and hugs her around the waist and pets her head softly.
"I knoww I am."
"S-Shut up dammit. Shut up..." She squeezes him tighter and Eridan just closes his eyes and stays quiet. In his mind he replies
"Yes your Majesty..."
TBC
