You just barely open your eyes when you see a familiar shape leaning over you. You're about to ask who's there when the voice answers your question.
"Jeethuth KK. You had me thcared out of my witth. I thought you were dead." Yep, definitely Sollux.
Wait a gog damn fucking minute!
"Captor?" Your eyes snap open to reveal your best friend, Sollux Captor. The next thing you notice is how close your faces are. For a brief second, you could have sworn you thought Gamzee was glaring at the both of you.
Just fucking great. Every time something good happens, something bad has to happen. You curse every troll that made your miserable good for nothing fucking life possible. You blink your eyes a few times and push Sollux away from you.
"Gog Captor, of course I'm fucking alive. I'm not that weak." You expect him to smile, even a little, maybe call you an idiot, but he just sits there, wearing a blank face.
Oh gog. It occurs to you now that he doesn't look the same. His clothes are torn. His eyes are sad, clouded; but the big clue isn't any of these. The big clue is the dark red blood all over his face and shirt. Did he...? You almost don't wanna think about it, but you need to pop the question to him. Better now than never... right?
Everything seems to vanish; the only thing left is concern for your friend.
"Sollux," You start; you're not even calling him Captor. "what the fuck happened?" Your such an idiot. How could you have been so inconsiderate of the situation Sollux might have been in?
You are quite aware that everyone is staring at you guys. You are all, staring, waiting. Did any of them try to get a reaction out of Sollux? The thought flies through your head, and suddenly, like a flash rain, he says everything. It all seems to flow out of his mouth like Feferi going on about some fucking rant.
"The'th dead KK!" He starts sobbing, "Thhe wath acting tho calm, it wath only the two of uth, watching each otherth backth! Thhe, thhe... when thhe got bit.. I-I … her calm fathe went away and thhe thtarted thcreaming. Thcreaming KK. Thhe thtarted thpazing. Thhe looked like Thhe wath trying to fight it, thhe turned to me before it happened. I thaw her fathe before.. before...Thhe looked terrified KK... The thcreaming got louder, and and... that thing tore off partth of her thkin. Karkat. Chunkth of thkin were missing. Thhe would have wanted me to kill her before it happened, but. I- I ran. KK I'm thuch a coward!" He makes horrible noises as he cries.
Every time he tries to take in a breath, it comes back out as a choked sob. "KK..." He says, latching onto you; he cries into your shirt. Literally, the yellow tears are staining into your shirt. You rub his back and hug him. All the shit that Sollux' been through... The stuff you've been through up 'till now doesn't even fucking compare.
But you have to be strong.
Determination running through your veins, you gently push Sollux off of you and stand up, holding out your hand to help him up.
"Come on Captor. We need to find Pyrope and the others. We need to keep moving." You say this not as a command, but as encouragement.
Captor's expression suddenly changes. He blinks away the tears and grabs your hand. As you lock hands and pull him up, he smiles.
"Letth go KK."
You look back to everyone and they all understand. They nod, smiles appearing on their faces for what seems like the first time in days. And now, you all set off.
You need to find Pyrope...
No.
You will find her.