Getting dressed in the morning is a hassle. Not only are you too tired to function properly, but you have to let Karkat dress you. It's not too bad. He changes your bandages, and he's gentle with you. There's that same guilt in his eyes from before, so you guess that he's worried about hurting you further. You tried to show him that you could get dressed yourself, but Karkat insisted that he didn't want to risk it. He got Terezi to back him up on it since she's apparently some sort of healer, and then Rose told you to just let him help you out, so you begrudgingly agreed.
You think that maybe you're just imagining things, but Karkat seems to be… staring as he dresses you. It feels weird to be undressed in front of your friend. It was never a big deal when servants had to bathe you or take measurements for a new robe, but this is different. Karkat is your friend. You care about what he thinks about you. And the look on his face as he rakes over your body… it's impossible to tell what he's thinking. If he thinks that you're too skinny or too pale. You know that both of those things are true, but you aren't sure if Karkat hates that about you or not. You don't even know why he would care about your body at all, but you want to know what he thinks anyway.
He doesn't bother averting his gaze. Karkat stares freely, helping you to get dressed quickly. It might just be you, but it feels… awkward. Especially when you have to change your undergarments. The good part is that it doesn't last long. Five minutes, tops, and Karkat is finished. You think about it for a while afterward, though. You aren't sure why, exactly. Maybe you should just stop. It isn't as if it's all that important. It isn't as if his hands against your bare skin felt good or anything…
You've been told that you're going to leave around noon and make it to Rose's "base" in two days time. She brought her own wagon, and plus the one that Vriska apparently has means that the trip shouldn't be too crowded. Which is good news, because you will be taking up a lot of space by laying down. Terezi seems to think that she's all knowing when it comes to what's best for you, because she's told you that you're lucky she's letting you move at all.
"Alright." Karkat hands you your shades, which you slip on gratefully. If you're going to be out in the sun, then you don't want to be blinded. "Are you sure that we can actually trust this sister of yours?" He raises an eyebrow at you. "You haven't seen her in years, and her explanations are vague, at best."
You don't hesitate to nod. Sure, Rose isn't being all that cooperative, but you know her. You know that look in her eyes, the tone she uses when she's dodging questions, and you can tell when she has good intentions. "I'm sure." You insist. "We can trust Rose." You pointedly ignore the doubt twitching in the corner of your mind.
Karkat doesn't look convinced - and you don't blame him - but he nods anyway. "Okay." He says carefully. "I'll go get John and we can help you outside and into the wagon." You force yourself to swallow your protests as he leaves. You hate feeling like such a liability, but you don't waste time arguing. You doubt that leaving you behind is an option, even if it's the logical thing to do. You're just going to have to get used to being an inconvenience.
Your thoughts of self-loathing are cut off when Karkat reappears with John. Again, your thoughts go to Equius. He's pretty strong. Why doesn't Karkat just ask for his help? But you don't ask. You just let John and Karkat lift you up, helping you walk. The good news is that you're on the first floor, so you don't have to go through the trial of stairs just yet.
You have to squint your eyes against the sun, even with your shades on. Natural sunlight has never been something that you liked. It doesn't go well with your skin, or your eyes. It's just all around bad. But it doesn't really matter, you suppose - the wagons are parked close to the inn, so you let yourself be helped into the shade.
You sit alone for a while, watching out of the back as people come and go from each wagon, packing things and checking on others until, finally, everyone agrees that they're ready to go. John, Jade, and Karkat ride with you, with Rose driving and leading the way, of course. Vriska, Terezi, Sollux, Kanaya, and Nepeta get the other wagon. You almost forgot about Nepeta entirely. She's just been so unnaturally quiet recently. You wonder why. Maybe it has something to do with Equius not being here? The more you think about it, the more you think that's the case, but you're not going to ask. And if you're honest with yourself, it's because you're afraid of the answer.
"So, Dave." John begins not two minutes into the trip. You don't mind, letting the tarp fall closed as you turn to face him, signaling that he has your attention. "What's it like living in the castle?" He asks, genuine interest in his voice. His eyes are wide with excitement, and you can't help but smile. Growing up in the lap of luxury doesn't seem like a big thing to you anymore, but you must have forgotten at some point how many commoners like John and Jade have dreamed about noble life.
You think about your answer for a moment. It has to be honest. "Boring." You say after a moment. "I didn't get to do much alone. Bathing, getting dressed, eating. Sleeping was an exception. But guards were always doing their rounds nearby, so it's not like I was ever really isolated or anything. The idea sounds good on paper - having more money than you know what to do with and servants to cater to your every whim - but I never really liked it. All I was allowed to do was read and study. Study and read. Had to be ready to be king one day, you know? It was nice, I guess. I never had to worry about food or where I was going to sleep. But I never really had to worry about anything. At all. Mostly, it was just dull." You smile a little. "I guess that's partly why I liked sneaking out so much."
You stop abruptly, frowning as you realize that you had just been rambling. You look to John, anxious, but he isn't upset. Actually, he's smiling. You don't get a lot of time to process this before he's wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into a tight hug. It hurts, but you hardly notice. The important thing is that this is John hugging you - he's smiling into your shoulder, chuckling a little bit. "I'm glad that Jade and I could be an escape for you." He mutters.
And you wonder if he's remembering the same thing that you are. A little boy who looks lost, and the boy with the big blue eyes who found him.
You couldn't keep your smile down if you wanted to. You reach up, hugging him back just as tightly. You tell yourself to enjoy it. It's selfish, and you know that, but this is all you have of him. You know that he can never love you back, so you take your indulgences when you can get them.
In the heat of the moment, you don't notice the way Karkat bites his lip and has to look away.
When John pulls back, you have to quickly and forcefully push away the thought that it's too soon. You want to hold him for so much longer, but you know that you can't, so you just let your arms fall to your side. "I'm glad, too." You smile at him. You notice Jade smiling from where she's curled up in on herself in the corner, but she decides not to interrupt. Why, you aren't sure, but you appreciate it.
"I do kind of want to know some other things, though." John says almost hesitantly. "I want to know, like, what did your bed feel like? What does the food taste like? How many servants have you had waiting on you at one time? What's the most expensive thing you own? What's-"
Laughter from the front of the wagon cuts him off, Rose chortling away as she keeps her gaze forward on the dirt road. "One at a time, please, John." She says good-naturedly. "He's still injured, remember? Go easy on him. Although, I don't know about Dave, but to answer your questions, in order…" She tilts her head to the side, humming in thought. "The beds feel like slightly more expensive hay, the food is so rich sometimes that I can hardly eat it, 16 servants at once to help me prepare for meeting my ex-fiance, and the most expensive thing I own is… oh, I want to say a crystal fixture for my bedroom that cost about a million gold or more."
John frowns for a moment as he processes this. "That sounds kind of awesome, actually." He says with a smile.
Rose nods. "I guess it was. I didn't really notice until after I left, though. I didn't have anything to compare it to until a few years ago. But noble life is very nice, yes. I think that you would like it, John." The faintest hint of a smile tugs at her lips. "Maybe you'll even get to try it out one day for yourself."
The idea is absolutely delightful to John, but you're worried about where Rose is going with this, exactly. She looks like she's implying something, but you have no idea what that could be. You decide that it's not important.
"Hey, Dave?" Jade looks over at you, frowning ever-so-slightly. "Princes have to marry princesses, right?"
You go to nod, and then catch yourself, shaking your head instead. "Not necessarily." You correct her. "The way my mom explained it was that the lowest rank I could marry is the daughter of a Duke. I wasn't actually listening very well, so I could be wrong, but there are exceptions. A noble girl who can bring wealth, power, an end to a non-beneficial disagreement, land, or anything else that my parents think is "worthwhile" is someone that I could potentially be forced into marrying one day." You explain. You sound like a textbook, but that's because you're doing your best to quote what you were told directly. "Of course, a princess is preferred. But there are only six other countries, so it's not like I have a whole lot of options." You incline your head towards Rose. "My darling sister over here, for example, was wed to a noble man. Or, well, she was supposed to be, but I guess she ran away because she just wasn't up for all of that relationship drama. Sure, the marriage goes fine, but the next day he's cheating on you with a wealthy baroness, and you have to battle her to the death to reclaim your honor." A shake of your head, and you sigh. "Good thing that Rose was smart enough to just skip all that nonsense and get right to the bitter divorce."
Your little rant earns a chuckle from Jade, and you allow yourself to smile. She's been looking so down, and you have no idea why, but you want desperately to cheer her up. You care deeply for her, even if it's… not in the way she wants.
With a smile, Rose shakes her head at you, sighing. "I hate to admit it, but Dave is right." She says. "Although, if there are no options deemed suitable, our parents could have also arranged us to marry each other." She remarks, tapping her chin in thought. You, Jade, and John, all have matching looks of disgust on your faces. Karkat doesn't look like he's even listening to the conversation. "A most… unpleasant option, I'll admit." Rose laughs softly. "Luckily, very unlikely. I don't think that there has ever been a case of someone having absolutely no options for marriage."
"That's a relief." John sighs, and he looks like he means it. You have to agree with the sentiment.
The wagon falls silent, the conversation apparently over. You don't mind the silence. You want to look outside and watch the scenery, but Rose said something about remaining inconspicuous. Even now, as she drives the carriage, her hair is covered with a shawl, and she has a scarf wrapped around the bottom half of her face. It's probably hot as hell, but you don't see her sweating. Maybe that was something they taught noble girls at a young age: How To Not Sweat And Remain Perfectly Composed Under Literally Any Conditions 101.
You tolerate the silence for about seven minutes before you give up and scoot over to the other side of the wagon. Karkat's head snaps up with surprising speed the second you move, like he was just itching for you to try moving so that he could reprimand you for it. He doesn't say anything though, just watches as you move over and position yourself to be sitting next to him.
"Hey." You say to get his attention. All you get is a grunt in recognition. He doesn't bother using words to greet you. You're sitting close to him, to the point that his shoulder is just barely brushing yours. He's warm, and when you go to lean on him, he tenses, like he wants to move away. But he doesn't, relaxing just a little bit. You don't ask what has him so on edge. It's kind of obvious. "So, I couldn't help but notice that you're surprisingly calm about all of this." You state conversationally. "I mean, you almost killed me, found out that I was secretly royalty behind your back the whole time, and your whole life has been turned upside down. Call me crazy, but I was expecting, well… a reaction of some kind."
Karkat barks out a laugh, loud and sarcastic, and shakes his head. "Oh, believe me. I had a perfectly over dramatic reaction." He rolls his eyes. "You were out for two days, remember? That was plenty of time for me to properly have a mental breakdown, cry, scream, curse God and the universe for everything, wallow in self-pity and feel every negative emotion under the sun, and leave myself with just enough time to piece my mangled sanity back together in time for you to wake up!" He says all of this in one breath, and he ends it with a huff, trying to cover up the deep breath he takes.
You blink in surprise. "Wow." You say. "All of that for lil' ol' me, huh?" You force an awkward laugh, but it quickly dwindles to nothing when you see the look on Karkat's face. His expression makes your stomach clench, and you have to fight to not look away. "Uh, Karkat…?"
He shakes his head, and forces his gaze away from yours. "Forget it, Dave." Karkat mutters, and you pretend not to be hurt when he puts three very obvious inches of space between the two of you. "Just be satisfied with the knowledge that I had a suitable reaction, okay?" You want to press for details, ask him if he really is okay, but Karkat speaks up before you can. "Hey, Rose, where exactly are we going? And when are we going to get there?"
As if she wasn't perfectly aware of the awkward conversation you were just having, Rose politely replies, "We're going to a town just a ways north of here. We'll stop when night falls to camp out, and depending on when we leave the following morning, we should reach our base at some point before noon."
Karkat considers this for a moment, then nods. "Yeah, alright." He sighs, sinking further down until only his shoulders are propped up against the wagon wall, the rest of his body splayed out in front of him. "It's not like I have much say in the matter…" He shifts his attention over to you, and his gaze hardens. "Dave, you should be getting some rest. We won't be there for a while, so get some of that sleep that you're missing out on right now."
You start to protest, but Karkat is apparently having none of that today. He sits up a little straighter, and with surprising gentleness, maneuvers you to be lying on your back. What has you a little unsure is the fact that Karkat is also holding your head in his lap. You could have sworn that he didn't want to touch, talk, or be near you at all, and you were going to try talking to him about it, but this has you even more confused than before. Karkat's hand finds its way to your hair, petting you just like before, back in the apartment room. You're not all that tired, but you decide that you might as well humor Karkat, and let your eyes close.
Had your eyes been open, you might have noticed the adoration on Karkat's face as he lulled you to sleep. But your eyelids remain shut, and in just a few minutes, you're asleep.
The banquet table is outlandishly long.
It stretches out in front of you and into the horizon. Every seat is filled. You get the feeling that the end of the table is always going to be out of reach no matter how far you walk. You don't bother testing that little theory of yours. You're too busy enjoying yourself.
The steady buzz of conversation fills the air as everyone talks. The buzz fills your head and numbs your judgment. Everything is fuzzy but you aren't worried. The faces around you are familiar and you trust them. The people are less clear the further away they're sitting. Rose is right next to you and her voice is sweet like syrup and sticky in your head. It rings in your ears and the combination of Jade's voice and John's laughter turns the conversation into something of a melody. You feel yourself getting tired and your eyes are starting to close. You can't let yourself sleep though. That would be suicide. You need to remain alert and vigilant. Just because you can see their faces doesn't mean that you can trust them.
But maybe you'll let your eyes close for just a moment…
You slump forward in your seat and you heavy eyes close for a second or two. Not near long enough. The sound of a chair scraping the floor jerks you back to alertness.
"In all fairness you highness…" You don't recognize who's speaking. Are they familiar maybe? You blink to try and clear the fuzziness around their features. It doesn't work. The sword at their hip is surprisingly clear to see. Its sharpness against the increasingly blurry world makes your head spin. "The meal is lovely but I'm afraid that I can't force myself through this any longer." Their voice lacks the hypnotic quality of the others. It's harsh and brittle in your ears and makes your mouth taste of copper blood.
No one lifts a finger to stop them. Including you. You sit perched on your throne like a good little puppet as they leap on top of the table and dart towards you. Their sword is a death sentence. But you can't find it in yourself to lift a finger to stop them. You feel surprisingly calm. This is alright. You're okay with this.
You wince when the sound of metal on metal interrupts your serenity. Your defender is easily recognizable. He isn't fuzzy like the others surrounding you. They had since gone back to their meal and conversation and their laughter is the symphony to the fight in front of you.
"Dave!" The second shouts at you without bothering to turn his head away from your attacker. "You need to run! I can't keep them here forever!"
You can't move. You can't breathe. Everything is frozen around you as it quickly becomes clear which of the two is the better fighter. You need to move. You need to get up there and do something before your attacker wins. It won't be much longer. His skill is obvious and even admirable.
The most you get is a twitch of the finger, and you're left to fume silently at yourself for another four, achingly long seconds. Your defender slips up. He makes a mistake. The opening he leaves is obvious. And if it's obvious to you then your attacker can no doubt see it as well. Your eyes widen. You're screaming at yourself to just move already but you can't. You can't move. You're useless useless useless and it's your fault that-
You jerk forward and his name is on the tip of your lips. "Karkat!" You force out. It hurts to do and leaves your throat rasping and feeling torn. You feel panic grip your heart so tight that you honest to God forget how to breathe for a moment. There's not enough time not enough time not enough time. The tip of your attacker's sword is pressed right between Karkat's lungs
when you wake up, gasping and panting for air as you scramble to reorient yourself with reality. You're sweaty, overheated, and terribly, terribly confused. It takes you a moment to recognize where you are. Rose's wagon. Right. It's okay. You're okay. You let out a shaky breath, trying to calm your pounding heart. It was just a dream. There's no reason to worry about-
Oh fuck, where is Karkat-?
You look around the little space frantically and are incredibly relieved to find Karkat sleeping not far from you. It's probably around midnight, so there isn't much light, especially under the tarp, but you recognize enough of him to know that it's Karkat. You sigh, and relax, closing your eyes and laying back down properly. Everything is okay. You're okay. Karkat is okay. There's no faceless, nameless person trying to kill you.
Your eyes open again to the sound of a quill scratching along parchment. You don't know how you didn't hear it before - maybe you were too panicked - but now that you've calmed down, the sound is insistent and easy to hear. You frown, puzzled, and twist over onto your stomach. You realize that it's entirely too bright, given the hour and where you are. The source of the light only takes a moment for you to locate. It's flickering, so you piece together that it must be a candle and inch your way over to the wagon opening. It doesn't do wonders for that prominent wound in your stomach, but whatever. You're too tired to care, and this is the only form of mobility that you have at the moment.
You push the tarp out of the way, and blink a few times to adjust to the unguarded light. Fuck, you left your shades back where you were sleeping, didn't you? Oh, well.
The candle that is casting the light in question is sitting upon a stump not far from where both of the wagons have been parked for the night. Sollux is hunched over it, on his knees on the ground and using the stump as a sort of table to write on. You watch for a moment, then blink and let out a sigh. "Hey." You say, and it seems to startle him, because he jumps a little and the speed that his head whips around so that he can look at you has got to hurt his neck.
"Oh, shit." Sollux says before he can stop himself. You raise a questioning eyebrow, nodding towards the paper. Talking is too much effort. You're too cool for shit like that. He rolls his eyes, setting his quill away in the little container of ink that he has set on the stump. "I'm doing what Vriska said." He explains with an irritated huff. "Writing home so that they won't worry about me. Because we're apparently not allowed to leave anytime soon." Sollux scoffs. You chuckle, and that seems to break the ice a little, because he smiles faintly. "Now, c'mon, your highness." This time, your title sounds less sarcastic and more like an affectionate nickname. It's still pretty sarcastic, though. Sollux gets to his feet, making a shooing motion at you. "Get back to bed. You need to rest up if you want to heal anytime soon. Or don't. I'm not in charge of carrying you."
You sigh heavily, long and drawn out and sarcastic. "Sure thing, mom." You drawl, ducking your head to avoid when Sollux swats at you.
"I've always wanted to tell a member of the royal family to go fuck themselves." He sighs wistfully, then refocuses on you, smiling. "Go fuck yourself."
You feel like you should be offended, but instead, all that does is make your grin widen. "How about a compromise?" You suggest. "Instead, I'll go back to sleep. That work for you?"
Sollux rubs his chin, studying you while he pretends to think about it. "Yeah, alright." He sighs finally. "But it better be a deep sleep. And don't snore. Half of the people in this fucking troop of ours snore, and I don't think I can take much more of that."
You nod, and scoot back deeper into the wagon, giving Sollux a mock little solute. "Sure thing." You say as seriously as you can manage. Which, considering your smile, isn't all that serious. "You won't hear a peep from me." You promise.
"I'll hold you to that." Sollux says seriously, closing the tarp behind you, and you shuffle back to your little bed area, which just consists of a blanket rolled out over the wooden floor. You didn't fall asleep on that. Karkat must have set it up for you. He's pretty nice like that.
You lay back down, listening to Sollux's footsteps as he returns to the stump. The sound of writing returns, and you let the soft noise lull you to sleep. A few minutes later, it stops and the candle is blown out, but you don't notice. You're already out cold. And, this time, your sleep is dreamless.
"What gives?" John frowns at Terezi, not-so-subtly shifting away from her as she climbs into the back of the wagon. You see that she has all of her belongings on her, and that Karkat's are nowhere to be found. You don't like it, and you frown. "I know you're blind, but I also know that you know that I know that you know this isn't your wagon, so get out."
Terezi gasps as if insulted, but the grin on her face makes that hard to believe. "Why, Jonathan!" She keeps talking, ignoring John's attempts to point out that his name is just "John" and isn't actually short for anything. "I can't believe you think that I would make such a simple-minded mistake! For today's purposes, I am riding in this wagon, as a favor to our mutual pal, Karkat."
You and John both seemed surprised by the news, but Rose just shrugs. "Alright, then." She takes hold of the reigns, snapping them to get the horses to start forward. Too late to change seats now.
"Wait, why did Karkat ask to move seats?" You ask Terezi, frowning. Come to think of it, he has been acting… odd lately. He's been spending as much time as possible away from you, and you're having trouble figuring out why. You thought that the awkward "sorry for stabbing you" thing was cleared up and that both of you had moved past it.
In reply, Terezi shrugs. "I don't ask questions. He asked me to, so I did. For a small fee, of course." She says with a grin.
This finally seems to get Jade's attention, and she looks up from where she was frowning at the wooden floor, frowning at Terezi instead. "You made Karkat pay to switch wagons with you?" She sounds surprised. You, honestly, are not.
"Of course not!" Terezi snaps indignantly. "I have people pay with information and secrets. What the hell would I even do with coins? They're dull and plain. But information." She cackles, a sort of laugh that sends shivers down your spine. "Now, that's a currency that's universal, and lasts even once you spend it."
That's… different, you suppose. But you admit. Your interest has peeked. "What did he tell you?" You ask.
Somehow, impossibly, Terezi's grin widens. "I can't tell you." She says smoothly. "Customer confidentiality. Unless… you have something interesting you'd like to offer up in exchange?" She leans in close to you, and you back up on impulse, your cheeks filling in red.
John, your mind supplies automatically, and as if Terezi can tell what you're thinking, she sighs and leans back again. "No, I suppose you wouldn't. Nothing in that head of yours that I don't already know, huh, Dave?"
You swallow hard, nodding your agreement. "Yeah." You say, but through the sound of blood rushing through your ears, your voice sounds like someone else's. "Nothing at all."
It's impossible to tell, at first, that you've arrived anywhere of importance, let alone that you had made it to the base for some kind of rebellion.
But Rose brings the horses to a halt in the middle of nowhere. You see some trees off in the distance, some rocks, a lot of dirt… there are no buildings for miles, though. Steam is rising in the distance, but Rose doesn't seem concerned, so you ignore it for the most part. It might be a hot spring or geyser of some kind. If that's the case, then you're further north than you first thought.
"Alright. Everyone out." Rose commands, jumping off the wagon and coming around back to help with the supplies.
Everyone moves to follow her example, but the confusion is shared by all of you. You don't have much of your own stuff, but you gather up what you do have and wait for someone to help you walk. John offers to let you lean on him, with Jade supporting your other side when you walk, and your appreciation that the both of them are here shoots up to astronomical levels. You're stubborn enough that you could probably walk by yourself, but everyone else keeps insisting that you need to take it easy and accept help. Literally, all of your friends have been telling you that. The only exception is Nepeta. The realization is surprising, but you haven't actually heard her say a single word the entire time you've been awake. You frown. Note to self: corner Nepeta and get her to talk later.
"Okay. This is it." With a largely exaggerated flourish, she motions to the empty and barren plain surrounding all of you. You can see the horizon in the distance, and it's just as dry as where you are now. If it wasn't for the few trees here and there and the occasional tufts of grass, you would swear that Rose brought you to a desert. There are just rocks. Everywhere. Rocks and dirt and some bigger rocks. There's a look in Rose's eyes that reassures you, though; an amused twinkle that shines brighter the longer everyone stands looking around, confused.
Finally, Terezi sighs and gives Vriska a nudge in the side. "Correct me if I'm smelling this all wrong," she begins dryly, "but is there some sort of structure I'm not seeing her? A fortress? Castle? Even a tipi would be welcome."
Vriska just sort of stares blankly at Terezi, and you grimace. Still upset about the night before, then. You can't say that you're surprised.
"Yeah." Sollux adds in, and you silently thank him for saving this conversation from an awkward silence. "The only things here are rocks, bigger rocks, a few smaller rocks, and - oh look!" He gestures around him. "A metric assload of dirt absolutely everywhere."
"Now, that is a good point." The tone in Rose's voice is so sarcastic that it's impressive. "I must be off my rocker. Or, maybe you lot didn't give this place the once-over that it deserves." And with that, she sets her foot on the side of a large rock and pushes it away with ease. Below it, a hole drops down into blackness, and a rope ladder tied into the wall just a few inches below where the hole begins extends into the nothing.
You have to admit. You're impressed.
"Well, that's new." Sollux blinks in surprise. "Fuck. Okay, then. Ladies first." He gives Karkat a nudge forward, and the shorter male scowls, elbowing Sollux hard enough to leave a mark.
"You're fucking hilarious." He snaps. "Here, you big baby. Move over. I'll go first." Karkat gets one foot on the rung, lowering himself over the edge and peering up at your little group. His front is convincing, but you can see the nervousness in his eyes. "So, uh, is there any light down there at all?" He directs this question to Rose.
To accompany her reply, she offers a grin. "You'll see it when you get down there, Karkat. Trust me on this one." Rose kneels down and flicks him in the forehead. You wonder how long it's been since she's had this many people to so freely mess with. "I would get going if I were you. Torches can't burn forever. And it is awfully dark down there."
Karkat glares at her, but huffs out a sigh and starts moving down, muttering curses all the while. When he gets far enough that you can't see him anymore, Rose turns to the rest of you. "Alright, then. Who wants to go next?"
In the end, getting down to this super secret base takes a few minutes. Nepeta ends up going second, then Terezi, tailed by Vriska, then Sollux. Kanaya lags a little behind, hesitating and looking to Rose for direction. But she goes down when your sister gestures for her to do so, and you are impressed by how many bags she can lug down with her without falling. You guess that not everyone wanted to bother with their stuff. Good thing Kanaya got it for them. Both John and Jade offer to help you down, but Rose insists that she can handle you herself. It makes you happy that they offered, though. You love them both so much that it hurts to think about it most of the time. While you would prefer to be dating John over Jade, you can't imagine your life without either of them.
You quickly discover that ladders are terrible.
By the time Rose helps you reach the bottom, you've worked up a sweat and your abdomen is throbbing with protest. Not to mention, Rose has to move the rock back into place behind the two of you, so even with your shades pushed up and your over-sensitive eyes trying their damnedest, you can't see anything.
You ignore the stiffness in your joints and the weariness in your body, letting Rose help you down the path. Once you had reached the bottom of the ladder, it wasn't hard to see where you were supposed to be going. There was a long tunnel, stretching into the earth, and at the end of it, a torch was burning just bright enough for you to see. You lean on Rose for support as you head towards it, one hand trailing along the wall. You feel the need to apologize for your deficiencies, but you hold your tongue. You know already that Rose wouldn't accept an apology like that. But you really do feel useless. And you regret that the people you hold dear are stuck with you.
It takes what feels like an hour to reach the end of the tunnel, and you desperately want a nap by the time you're done. You don't let yourself ask for it, though. You let Rose turn you around the corner and push open the simple wooden door waiting for you both, and you're thankful that there isn't a lot more to walk. On the other side of the door is what appear to be a sitting room with fucking chairs and you're so relieved that you could cry. They're wooden and stiff and probably not very comfortable, but you would sit on the ground if it wouldn't hurt horribly to get back up. You don't even need to ask Rose to set you down - she just moves you over to the empty chair next to Jade and helps you sit. Everything is quiet. You guess that you're all waiting, but for what, you aren't sure.
The room itself is sparse of anything noteworthy. There are enough chairs to sit all of you, all of them wooden replicas of each other and just as uncomfortable. The walls and the ceiling have been paneled with wood, but the ground is dirt, packed tight enough that the legs of your chair don't sink into it. There are only two doors, one of which leads back to the rope ladder, and the other which leads… well, you don't know where.
It's this second door that Rose approaches. Every eye in the room is on her, and she knocks politely on the wood. "Before you ask me for a password," she says with a smile, but a warning hint behind her words, "I already know that we don't have one, and I'll have you reported if you don't let me in immediately."
There's a pause, and then the door unlocks from the other side and creaks open. "Oh, you're no fun, Rose." A girl that can't be much younger than you answers, looking irritated.
Rose rolls her eyes, turning to gesture at the room behind her. "I know. I've stuck my stick permanently in the mud and then sat on it for so long that it's firmly planted up my ass. We've been over this, Dakota, now be a dear and have these bags here taken to the guest rooms. The Violet Wing, if you would be so kind." The smile she gives the girl is sticky sweet, and Dakota doesn't reply, huffing in irritation but stepping to the side so that Rose can pass.
With a chuckle, she gestures for all of you to follow. "Leave your things." Rose says when Kanaya moves to pick up her bags. "Dakota here will be carrying everything to your temporary rooms. You can sort out what bag belongs to who once we get there, and you can also decide who you want to room with, but for now, we have someone important to be seeing."
That settled, your little group uncertainly moves forward. You lag a little behind, because you have to lean on John for help, but you appreciate that he lets you move at your own pace. The girl who answered the door seems unimpressed with all of you, waving your group along impatiently before entering the room herself and beginning to gather the bags. You feel bad that an itty-bitty thing like her has to carry all of that stuff alone, but she doesn't protest or seem to mind, so you let it be and keep walking.
This new hallway is an improvement from the first one. The walls have been lined with thin slabs of stone, light and easy to place, but pleasing to the eye, and they keep bugs out. It's much brighter here than it was before, and a torch lies on either wall every ten feet. It's a little off-putting that the ceiling is dirt, but the top of the hallway is rounded out, and you understand why they didn't want to try applying something flat to something that's curved.
Dozens of doors lead into the hallway, and you see a few people leaving them. From what you can tell based on the three seconds you got to peek inside, these are bedrooms. The people don't pay you any attention whatsoever. They just keep walking, and if they didn't take great care to avoid bumping into any of you, you would think that you were invisible.
"This is the Red Wing." Rose begins with a very tour-guide-like voice, gesturing around. "This wing connects to the main hall, which itself connects to three other bedroom wings. There are other wings that aren't for sleeping, but you'll be seeing them later. I'm not entirely sure but I want to say that we have, oh, about a hundred bedrooms in total. Each room can fit three people. Recently, we've had to start doubling up rooms as we get new recruits. I think that there's about… 123 people staying in the regular rooms. We do have a separate wing for more important members. I hope you understand that I'm not allowed to show it to you just yet." She turns to look over her shoulder at you all, smiling apologetically. "The other wings are the Violet Wing, the Blue Wing, and the Yellow Wing. Those are all varying degrees of, well, "niceness" is a way you could say it. The Red Wing has the bare necessities - a bed with a pillow and blanket, a desk, and a dresser. The Violet Wing comes with stone walls instead of dirt, a curtain over the ceiling so that dirt doesn't fall on you, and wooden flooring. They also have a small fireplace that funnels out on the surface for when it gets cold. I'm staying in a violet room, and that's where I'm having all of your things delivered to."
The hallway abruptly splits into a "T" up ahead, and the hallway this one leads into is much more spacious than the one you're in now. The ceiling is twice as high, and your group would have to stand shoulder-to-shoulder to take up the whole width of it. You see that the archway to the hallway you just left is painted red around the edges. The hall across from it has a yellow edge, and you assume that the violet and blue wings respectively are a little further down. Everything else seems to be to your left. To the right, the hallway abruptly ends about fifteen feet down, with a jagged and very solid dirt wall signaling the end of the hall. It looks like it was dug out, and you feel tired just thinking about how long it took to do all of this.
Rose heads to the left, and you don't see any more doors or archways into new hallways until she stops outside of a small little wooden door that you honestly didn't even notice upon first glance. It lies directly between two torches, so it's been cast in shadow, and it's more sunken into the wall than most of the other doors, making it practically invisible to anyone that isn't paying attention.
"This is the conference room." Rose's voice is quiet, and you're aware of the sudden and suffocating silence. It's unnaturally quiet, even compared to the relative slowness of the rest of this base. You don't make a sound. You just listen to her. "This is where our leader discusses movements with her tacticians and strategists and plans things that we can do to stop her and recruit more people. This isn't the usual, but… our founder wanted to personally greet all of you, so you'll be seeing her now." For some reason, Rose smirks. "I think you'll find that she knows you better than you thought."
The door doesn't appear to have a lock, and Rose pulls it open easily. "Take a seat at the conference table." She says, holding the door open and ushering you all inside. You take a good look around once you get into the room, and you're impressed. You don't know how deep you are underground, but the ceiling is so high that you think the surface is just a foot away. There are support beams all over the place, and the ceiling looks especially reinforced here. The itty-bitty door you came in really doesn't do this place justice. It's amazing how well-lit it is, and you look up to see a large and very cheaply-made chandelier hanging from the ceiling, lit with candles and lanterns. You wonder how they keep that burning. The room is dominated by a large, circular table in the very center of the floor. It's made of polished wood, and surprisingly smooth to the touch. You count about twenty chairs encircling it, and you take a seat at the one closest to the door. John follows suit, then Jade, and Karkat, until everyone except Vriska is sitting.
She doesn't seem as impressed as you are, her arms crossed and her lips pressed into a thin, displeased line. "You're all idiots." Vriska remarks, her glare sweeping across the room as she makes eye contact with each and every one of you. "Is your trust really this easily bought? I don't see any 'founder' in here, and we didn't even know Rose until a few days ago."
You start to reply, but someone beats you to it.
"Smart." An unfamiliar voice says, stepping by Rose, who is still holding the door, and entering the room. "You're careful." A sigh. "That's more than I can say about your mother."
You see Vriska bristle, and she whirls around, teeth bared. If she had a weapon on her, you have no doubt that she would draw it. "You knew my mother?" She asks, but she sounds more challenging and angry than relieved.
The stranger steps out of the doorway and into the light, letting all of you get a good look at her. She had brown hair at some point, but age and stress has worn it white at the roots. It's a knotted and tangled mess, likely because she doesn't cut or brush it, if the way the tips of it brush her hips is any indication. Her wrinkles and lines and crow's feet are born of stress, not laughter. She looks frail, but there's a sort of energy about the short, strange woman in front of you. Her presence commands respect, and not a single person would think twice about giving it to her.
Something about her is familiar, but you can't imagine why.
"I knew your mother." The woman says. "We were friends. Once. But that was a long time ago. You look just like her, you know." She smiles, but it doesn't seem very happy to you. It's more of a sad fondness.
Rose lets the door close, coming over to stand next to the… well, organization founder, you're assuming. "Everyone," she gestures at the woman, "this is Disciple. Obviously, that's not her real name, but she is the founder of this little group her and my boss."
Disciple smiles, giving a little nod. "That's a way to put it, I suppose." She looks around your little group, and her smile falters. She turns to Rose, seeming confused. "Is he-?"
"Yes." Rose nods, and she turns to look at you. Or, rather, the person sitting next to you. "Karkat?" He looks over at the sound of his name, his back previously to Disciple. You wonder if he was paying the slightest bit of attention to what was just going on. It didn't seem like it.
Before he can reply, Disciple lets out this small gasp, covering her mouth with both hands as she stares at him. Karkat looks horribly confused, and for once, seems to be at a loss for words as Disciple approaches him. "Oh, Karkat…" She holds out a hand, as if to touch him, but stops herself at the last moment as tears prick her eyes. "You look… my, how you've grown. You're the spitting image of your father."
Karkat tenses, and you can see the million questions he wants to ask reflected in his eyes, but before he can ask any of them, Disciple has enveloped him in a hug. Her small frame shakes with the force of her sobs as she weeps into Karkat's shoulder. Awkwardly, he reaches his arms up to hug her back, giving Rose a bewildered look.
He doesn't need to ask. Rose can just tell sometimes, and she shrugs, smiling. "Karkat, meet Disciple. Or, more accurately," her smile widens, "meet your mother."