A/N: Hello everyone. I hope everyone is doing good because I sadly got another stomach bug. D: blah. Yet, the good news is that while I was sick, I was able to lay around a lot and able to write this up! This chapter is longer than what we are normally getting just by a bit and will be one of the more plot moving chapters because we need this story to get going already! Thank you and enjoy.
Even though Terezi wants to stay and learn more about her mysterious ancestor, she could not. They both know that if they do not make it back in time before someone notices that they are gone, they will be in big trouble. That is the last that Terezi needs and so she pulls and drags Vriska to follow. Vriska could afford to get in trouble but not her. The last thing Terezi needs is getting a beating for Vriska's idea and laziness. Shockingly enough, Vriska starts moving after a few seconds of Terezi yelling her to move faster. It was actually not that hard for them to sneak out the small village despite the fact that they had a large wall surrounding it. Terezi ends up finding a small hole near the gate and they crawl under it even though Vriska complains about getting dirty. That alone was a joke to Terezi because one look at Vriska and she would most of the time look like she has not bathed in nights just because of all the situations that they get themselves in.
Still, Terezi is determined to make to back without getting caught. "Come on! We are going to get in trouble!" Vriska gives a fake yell. "What? No we wont. Captain will not find out. Calm down." She rolls her eyes at Terezi as she was trying to keep up with her. Terezi is nearly running blindly as she almost forget where to go. She wants Vriska to lead the way just because she knows the way back but her so called friend is taking her sweet time keeping up with her. "Why are you making it so hard for me?!" Terezi stops and looks to Vriska.
It is starting to get dark outside and it will only be minutes before someone is to check in their block to see how they are doing. Vriska is not helping the cause at all with her constant dragging. "Because! I am suppose to make it hard for you. Black! Remember?!" Terezi shakes her head. "No, Vriska we are not black. I don't hate you." A frown appears on Vriska's face and it sticks. "Why?" It was a simple question and Terezi does not know what to say. She does not know how she feels about Vriska. There were sometimes Terezi wanted to take Vriska down to the ground and kiss her but she was not feeling that lately. Even if she wanted to, she can't see them the way Vriska wants it. Terezi does not know how she feels about it and she does not need Vriska pushing for it. "Let's just go back to the hive."
The answer was not something that Vriska wanted to hear because it was not even a real answer. Terezi is avoiding the question and they both know it. "Tell me," her voice is stern and demanding. It sounds too much like Mindfang than Terezi would like. "I just don't hate you! Just stop." There is a glare from Terezi while the sad expression stays on Vriska. She looks hurt but still manages to keep eye contact with Terezi. She had to give her credit there. If Terezi was shut down in a relationship, she would not have had the courage to maintain eye contact because Vriska looks ready to cry. She does not cry though. Vriska does not say anything but instead just nods her head. "Ok…"
(MUTINY)
Walking back was awkward. It was quiet but Terezi tried to make simple conversation with her. Vriska is not in the talkative mood for once and Terezi hopes that this attitude is only temporary. She hates the way things are working out between them. Terezi wants this to be avoided but things never go the way she plans. It still did not stop her from trying to cheer up Vriska because at one point Vriska was cleaning her tears away so that way Terezi would not see. Terezi saw though. She saw several times actually and they both know it. She does not point it out though because Vriska is very upset. Even if Terezi hates Vriska, she wouldn't be able to be mean to her at the moment. It just seems wrong. "Look we're here. Let's go in before we get caught." Vriska does not say anything but nods her head once they finally got the hive.
Terezi quietly opens the door to the hive. There is no noise and Terezi signals Vriska that it is clear. No one is in the hallway. So far they look like they were in the clear and Terezi wants it stay that way. Terezi starts to walk inside and Vriska looks around. This was the important part of it; not getting caught. Getting in trouble would be horrible and something Terezi was not going to allow to happen to her. She made her way quickly to the stairs and made her way up. Vriska did so too and they managed to actually sneak inside the block. Vriska shoved Terezi inside and quietly closed the door. Terezi was ready to punch Vriska for that but Vriska was already running to pretend to be where she was supposed to be sleeping. Terezi was going to question her rush but the room opened and Terezi stood in the center of the room confused.
"What are you doing up so early, little dragon?" At least it was just the first mate. He never got mad at them often. It still made Terezi nervous as he looked at her with a questionable look as Vriska was pretending to still be sleeping. Terezi was annoyed that Vriska was not helping her out and knew she was on her own on this one. So she was going to work on her lying skills this night. Vriska was good at it. Why can't she try it out more? "I heard noise and got scared." Terezi gave a fake found of fear in her voice to make it more believable. Even Vriska, who was still pretending to sleep, was impressed with the show that Terezi was putting on. There was not a lot of times where Terezi would try to get away with trouble. It looks like Terezi as done with getting in trouble. She is going to lie her way to safety.
It must be working as the first mate looks like he's believing her. Though there is a flaw in her story. Both girls still have their sun cloaks on. It looks like they forgot to remove them in their cloaks in a rush. When he points it out, Vriska gets worried but still pretends to sleep. There is no way she was going to blow her cover. Then it would only prove that Terezi was lying and Vriska is counting on her to talk their way out of trouble. "We were playing yesterday and slept in them." Terezi's answer is fast to where it sounds believable and the first mate buys it. "Very well. I shall let you be. You look tired." He points and Terezi can agree completely. "Get some rest. I will come back in a few her hours. Errands need to be run and you two are coming." Terezi is not excited but just wants him out the block. "Ok." He leaves the room and quietly closed the door behind him as he thought that Vriska was still sleeping.
Vriska sits up quickly. It almost scares Terezi on how fast the other girls sits up. "Wow! Nice one. I thought we were caught." There is a smile on Vriska's face knowing that they got away. Terezi does not really care at the moment. She is beyond tried and does not know how Vriska sounds so awake when she was the one complaining about being tired. "Thanks. I'm going to sleep. I'm tired." She makes her way to her pile and Vriska gets up. The Serket watches Terezi lay down and makes her way to her and lays down next to her. The action is something she did not see coming. She does not fight or question it though. Terezi closes her eyes and tries to relax, but she's paranoid. She wonders what Vriska is up , the Serket does nothing other than lays there. Terezi tries to do the same and after a couple of minutes, her muscles start to ease was soft breathing coming from Vriska and Terezi does not bother to see if she is awake or not. She does not look her away and Terezi soon closes her eyes and starts to sleep.
(MUTINY)
The awkwardness never goes away. Terezi finds herself starting to avoid Vriska. Yet, even the times she tries to talk to the girl, Vriska does not look eager to be around Terezi. They don't know how to act around each other now. It was only four days ago the Terezi refused Vriska's black advances. They are still young. Terezi feels that Vriska knows nothing about any kind of quadrant, and she does not have faith in the girl learning it properly anytime soon. Terezi was still upset about Vriska almost hurting her and getting rough when Terezi was obviously not returning the advance. Vriska does not stop though. Terezi notices that Vriska is more careful now. Vriska tries to get under Terezi's skin still, and there is not much Terezi could do about it. She want to yell at her to stop but the things she does it so small that she can not complain about it. Vriska's smart like that and Terezi acknowledges it. The Serket is trying to slowly push Terezi black even though that is something she is not interested in.
Other than that, nothing special has been going on in her life. They spent their nights in town. The two young trolls help get supplies with the crew members that are on land. It was not fun and this promotes Vriska and Terezi to still get in trouble even though things are not great between them. Last night the girls ended up breaking an expensive small glass statue. It did not go unnoticed and the girls ended up surrounded by angry trolls. However, the underlings of Mindfang saw it unfold and quickly came to the rescue. A big brawl unfolded, and the girls were able to get away from the chaos. They giggled as the ran away but once everything was done with, they knew they were in trouble. Everyone was mad the them and now they were locked up in their block until Mindfang comes back to land to get them.
That does stop the trouble making. Vriska and Terezi still continue to run off to the remote village in the forest. They love it there even though Vriska denies it every time. The smile on her face gives Vriska away, and Terezi dares to point it out. She knows that she is only encouraging Vriska to react in a manner that Terezi wanted to avoid. They still get along though. The emotions are unstable with them but they managed to keep a strong bond. They are forced to live with each other and so they might as well get along.
"I got it!" Terezi laughs loudly and keeps on running. Aradia is chasing her close behind and that makes her move her feet faster. Vriska is running into front of Terezi as Tavros was trying to cut them off from their left side. Terezi starts to run to the right and she could hear Aradia catching up to her. She starts to get nervous even though they are just playing. Terezi takes these games seriously as she was always out to win and she is glad that Vriska is the same way. The small ball is being held in Terezi's hand as she knows that their opponents are trying to get it from her. Feeling that she is going to lose it, as Tavors and Aradia were too close to her she tosses up high. "Catch it!" Vriska sees the action and is able to jump high enough to get the ball. Team Charge tries to go after Vriska but the Serket was running mad.
Terezi sees a grin on Vriska and she does not blame her. They were winning in their made up game. "Catch me if you can, suckers!" Everyone starts running to Vriska but no one can keep up with her. Vriska runs further into the forest and is managing to navigate through everything with ease. Terezi is stumbling to keep up, Aradia slows down to not fall over, and Tavros tries to keep up but nearly trips twice.
Vriska is the only who is running through the thick vegetation with no trouble and Terezi is wondering how she is doing that. Terezi still manages to see Vriska in the distance and sprints once the trees lessen. Team Charge start falling behind and Terezi is sure they are going to win. "Over here Terezi!" Vriska calls out for her friend but only stops for a second when Terezi catches up with her. "Take it." She tries to give it to Terezi but Aradia starts getting closer with Tavros a few feet behind. "Pretend you have it. Get them off me," Vriska tells Terezi as she changed her mind on giving it to Terezi. The Pyrope goes with the plan and runs off, pretending to hold the ball. Vriska runs in the opposite direction as a means to confuse the other team. "Terezi has it!" Aradia shouts to Tavros but the boy could see Vriska with something. He is sure that Vriska has the ball and is right. Yet, Aradia is already following Terezi. "Wait! She…" Tavros does not see Aradia slowing down and he knows that he has to be the one to go after Vriska.
Terezi grins when she looks back and can see Aradia behind her. It looks like their plan was working until she notices that Tavros is not following. "You can't get me!" Terezi starts laughing madly but causes her to run right into a tree. She grunts and falls right on her back. A groan comes from her as she does not move for a bit. Terezi can hear Aradia still running ti and soon the girl is standing over her. "Are you ok?" Terezi can see Aradia doing her best not to laugh and Terzi shakes her head even though she is really fine. "Tress hurt..." That is all Terezi can say as she feels stupid for running into a goes away quickly when Aradia extends her hand out and Terezi accepts it. She stands up quickly and dusts herself off. "Thanks. That really hurt." Her world is shaking though and can hear a scream. There is screaming off in the distance. It's a horrible shrieking noise that cause Terezi's stomach to drop. She knows that it was Tavros and has no clue what is going on or where he was at.
Aradia looks terrified and starts running off in the direction she comes from. "Hey! Wait up!" Terezi calls out and knows that there is no way that Aradia was going to slow down if something was wrong. She was right. Aradia keeps running and Terezi follows even though he world is still spinning around her. Terezi keeps running as she keeps bumping into the nature around her . Aradia does not help her and Terezi does not blame her. If Vriska was in trouble, Terezi would help her sister despite what has been going on between them. Terezi soon catches up to the sight and is trying to figure out what was going on. "Tavros!" Aradia is calling out for him as she leaned over a cliff and Vriska is standing close by. Terezi is wondering what is going on and she runs up to where Aradia was at. She dared to look over the edge too and was not expecting Tavros to be laying at the bottom of the cliff. The is not moving and his legs looked oddly bent in angles it was not suppose to be in. There was blood on the floor around him and Terezi is sure that he is dead. There is no way anyone could have survived a fall like that.
"What did you do to him?!" Aradia runs up to Vriska with a deadly look and right away gets in the Serkets face. Vriska stands her ground and gets right back in Aradia's face. They are glaring at each other and their faces are closer than Terezi would expect. If she did not know any better she would say that they were black for each other. However Aradia looks ready to kill, and if Tavros is dead, then Terezi does not blame her. Even though her and Vriska don't get along perfect, she know that if any would hurt Vriska, Terezi would jump in to help her sister out. It would only be right after all.
"Back off!" Vriska roughly shoves Aradia back and the maroon blood moves back a lot. Terezi looks back over the edge and wonders how Tavros fell. It's hard for her to think though with all of the shouting and yelling Aradia and Vriska are doing. "I didn't do anything! He was the pupa who can't take care of himself! Not my fault he fell." Aradia looks offended by what Vriska says and shoves Vriska back for the earlier push. "Did he fall?! Or did you push him?!" It was Terezi's turn to get upset. She is mad that Aradia would dare accuse her best friend of hurting someone on purpose. Tarvos is a good kid. He looked like him and Vriska were getting along well enough. So it would make any sense for Vriska do do something like that.
Terezi walks right up to Aradia and stands near Vriska. "It was an accident. Leave her alone." She is ready to defend Vriska and Terezi does so. It's only right for them to look out for each other. Yet, the response that comes from Vriska is something that Terezi does not expect nor was it what she wants to hear. "He had it coming anyways."
"How could you say that?!" Aradia shouts at Vriska and Terezi glares at Vriska. Yet, Before anymore could be said a light groan comes out of no where. They all go quiet for a moment. Then there is another groan. "Tavros!" Aradia runs past Terezi and Vriska. Right away Terezi follows back the edge of the cliff and looks over. She squints her eyes and could see Tavros was indeed alive. His arm is moving slightly and so is his head. "Oh shit." Terezi says and Aradia is moving once again. The maroon blood finds a safer way down using a less of a steep path. No one else follows. Aradia is still shouting out his name as she makes her way down. "Let's get out of here, Terezi.
A hand grabs the Pyrope. Terezi looks to Vriska in shock that she wants them to leave. "We are not going to help?" Vriska keeps trying to pull Terezi along. She can still hear Aradia calling out for Tavros, and Terezi does not know what to do. Because she does not do much, Vriska continue to drag her away. "They don't need our help." Vriska states harshly. Terezi is still being pulled away from the incident as she does not fight Vriska from taking her away. She does not want to leave. Terezi is worried about Tavros even though they just met them a few nights ago.
(MUTINY)
Terezi eyes Vriska. "You're lying. I know it." Vriska groans and tries to shove food in her mouth to give her some time to not talk. The Serket wants to keep avoiding what happened a few hours ago. Yet, she has been keeping her mouth shut about the what occurred. It was still hot on Terezi's mind and the girl was not forgetting anytime soon about it. She wants to know what really happened. As much as Terezi wants to defend Vriska, she knows how the girl really is. These things almost never happen by accident when Vriska is around. Terezi still wants to give Vriska the benefit of the doubt but she knows that she can't.
"Whaaaaaaaat?! No way." Vriska shakes her head and shrugs her shoulder. They sit at the table back at the hive they were staying at as Terezi is still trying to interrogate her friend. "Don't be a jerk! You can tell me." Terezi grins in a playful way. She is deep down serious about digging up the truth. Yet, if this was going to help her get a clue on what she was to do with Vriska. "Ok! ok! Listen. You know how the Captain got her handle? It's cause she can get into troll's minds! Guess who learned how to do it too." Vriska grins back but Terezi's falters. "Wha? When?! Wait...did you mind control him?" Terezi sits there in shock at what Vriska's says. "Duh! He didn't fall or jump. I was just helping him." Vriska could see that her friend is disturbed and did not fully understand why. "Why?!"
"He...was such a wimp!"
"And?!" Terezi glares at Vriska when she hears a poor answer. The boy is a good guy even though he could sometimes be a bit of jerk. Yet, Tavros did always mean well and Terezi does not know what they will do once the village finds out. Terezi haves a bad feeling that they will never be allowed back there. She does not think about the fact that the villagers might want vengeance for what Vriska does and yet there is still no clear answer for Vriska's action. That is what Terezi is trying to figure out. "Tavros was just….I don't know. I just felt weird around him."
"Weird? How?" Terezi starts to eat again with interest now. Her appetite is almost nonexistent but the after a few moments it was starting to come back. "I just thought...he didn't like me." Terezi groans and throws her arms up. "Are you flush for him?!" Vriska nods her head. "You don't hurt a troll you are flush for! I thought you didn't like him. You were always bullying him." Terezi comments and Vriska looks upset at Terezi. "I know! I just couldn't help..it." Terezi went back to losing her appetite. "First, you hurt me and then Tavros. Why are you so mean?" Vriska crosses her arms over her chest and frowns. "I'm not mean…" Her frown quickly moves to an expression of sadness along with a mix of realization. Terezi can see the hurt expression and she is amazed that Vriska did not want to be viewed in that way. Vriska is not happy with Terezi and shoves her. The girl falls to the girl on the floor and loud crashing. Terezi drags her food to the ground with her. "Ow! You jerk! I hate you!" Terezi shouts at Vriska and gets up quickly.
"Good! That's what I wanted!" Vriska pushes Terezi again and the Pyrope had finally reach her end with Vriska. While Terezi was on her back she kicked Vriska harshly. Her foot landed near Vriska's stomach. The Scorpio goes down and grunts in pain. Terezi stands up again quickly and runs. She runs out of the hive to the outside world. "Terezi!" Even though Vriska is yelling for her, Terezi runs away from Vriska. She is mad at Vriska and herself for being friends with her. This is all Vriska's fault. There is no doubt about that on her mind and Terezi knows that things were not going to go smooth once they are found. Terezi is not sure if the villagers would dare try to go into the town that they are taking shelter at.
Oddly enough, Terezi find herself running to the village. She does not know why but a part of her wants to try and defend Vriska. Her friend made a huge mistake and Terezi feels that it is up to her to fix what Vriska had broke. So she runs all the way to the village and she never hears Vriska follows. Terezi does not blame her though. If she did something like that, she would never show her face around that place in fear of being killed. Terezi is not a coward but no one in their right mind would go where they would get slaughter. The next thing she knows is her finding herself in village once again. Right away she was getting stares and glares. Terezi does not get to walk far in until she is snatched up by guards and was dragged to the older troll she had first met in the village. The same one who knew her ancestor but Terezi is scared now. She wants to trust them but they can't after what Vriska did. Terezi is terrified when she stands in the moonlight near the entrance of the largest building. "I didn't do anything!"
The older lets out a sigh when he sees Terezi struggling now. She hates how she can not get away as they guards are hold her tightly. "You are not in trouble. I just wish to hear your side of the story." He looks around and Terezi is wondering what he is trying to see. "Where is your friend?" Terezi stops struggling and tries to think on what she is going to say. "I don't know where she is. Vriska did mean it." She is not sure why she lied but she did. Terezi still can't get herself to give her friend away completely. She wants everyone to think that it was one huge accident. "Tavros says otherwise. He states that Vriska did it on purpose." Terezi knows that the gig is up. There is no way that they are buying her story. Everyone knows. Vriska almost killed the boy on purpose and she is starting to regret it. "She didn't mean it…" The troll looks at Terezi and nods her head. "You are really do care about her. Not a lot of troll your age would still be defensive for a friend. Come with me." He turns around and she feels the grip of her arm loosen and Terezi wonders where they are going.
"I must acknowledge that you are looking out for your friend. It must be a challenge to have to always look out for another troll." Terezi walks up to the side of the troll with the guards no longer holding her. "Yeah." Terezi can't help but agree at the thought of all the times she got in trouble because of Vriska. "That's very nice of you. I also understand that it must be hard with little guidance." To Terezi it meant no guidance. A chill runs through her body and she does not know why. "Growing up without an ancestor must have been hard but allow me to help you." They start to walk and talk but Terezi is not impress. "I don't need an ancestor. I'm fine." The older troll laughs lightly. "I wish not to replace. No. I am not even referring to myself." Terezi gives him a questionable look as she starts to hear noise from the distance. A noise she has never heard before. "No. I think you need help just like your ancestor did. Let me explain that the few times that she came back was not to visit for fun. She had a purpose for return. Similar to you." The noise is louder and it sounds...like a beast? "There is a reason why we live so far off and there is also a reason why your ancestor was a constant visitor over the sweeps." Terezi feels thrown off by what he says but the sudden loud roar out of the dark sky scares her. Her ear ring from the loudness and covers them as she looks to the ground as the dirt around them move because of the air around them moving. Terezi glances up and could feel something behind her. With hesitation, she turns around and finds herself face to face with a real living dragon.
"Whao."
A/N: Thank you for reading my fanfiction! I do hope you leave at least a kudo or a few words. Maybe both. Tell me what you think because every little support is very encouraging and motivating. The more motivation, the faster I will update.