~ Sometime later~

You are now Karkat and you are having a bad time.

You and Gamzee finally made it back to the village, but you can't enter the village.

Why? One may ask.

Because of all the goddamn search parties looking for you and Gamzee, you would reply. You need to sneak back to camp undetected so you can cover up the fact that you're albino. Not to mention Gamzee's arm is still fucked up and needs proper medical attention. Of course, Gamzee thinks it's not a big deal, says that his arm just twinges a little. But you know it can be so much worse. What if he has nerve damage in his arm? Or what if he lost motor control in his hand?! Okay, those don't sound like a big deal, but Gamzee's life doesn't need to be difficult.

Before you could throw another panic-induced shit fit, Gamzee started to gently pat your cheek to get your attention. He motions with his good hand, and points in the opposite direction. He's suggesting a detour to avoid the search parties.

Avoiding the search parties is a bigger pain in the ass than either of you were expecting. Who knew it would be hard as balls hiding from people actively looking for you.

First, Gamzee's plan was to cross the river, but it turned out people were already searching along the river. So you had to carry Gamzee up a tree, which is not easy by the way, and climb from branch to branch until you somehow got on the other side of the river. Then Gamzee's splint got caught in a branch. You panicked for a few minutes trying to get him down. Once you got him down, he dives into a bush and pulls you in with him.

The two of you sat, curled around each other waiting for the search parties to pass. Once you're sure the coast is clear, you both untangle yourselves and press on.

You and Gamzee end up getting lost again and decided to hide out in a cave until you can get your bearings again. Eventually, Gamzee spots a search party on their way back to the village.

"How do you know?" you asked.

He signs "They're not carrying much of anything, and need more supplies." So the two of you stealthily follow the group back to the village.

When you see the village, the two of you slip away without getting noticed and sneak into Gamzee's hut.

Once inside the two of you planned on relaxing and possibly taking a nap, unfortunately, there was somebody already there.

Be the worry wart.

You are now Eridan and you are coming up with a list of worst-case scenarios and possible emergency maneuvers to get Karkat out of the jungles. You could try to get into contact with a local country or the homeland to see if you can get help, but as an anthropologist, it would go against your teachings of avoiding outside interference. Part of learning about cultures is becoming immersed in them and participating in their traditions to gain an understanding.

It was a mistake to bring Karkat along, it was a mistake to bring up his sexuality with his family, everything you do is a mistake. You start to beat your head against the desk until you feel a hand rest on your shoulder. You look up to see Feferi's concerned face and Sollux right behind her.

"Eridan" she starts softly "you can't beat yourself up over this, it's not helping you or Karkat, or anyone at the moment." you sigh "You're right Fef if Karkat saw me being a sorry son of a fish he would kick me in the bass."

Determined, you decide to search the premises of your research camp and dig through Karkat's tent to see if you can get an idea as to where he would go and what he would do. So far all you've found are his romance novels.

Well, at least you know what he would do if Gamzee didn't kill him.

Quick be cool!

You are now Gamzee and you are panicking. You're older brother decided to get his chill on at your hut. You're quick to cover Karkat and hide him behind you. However, your bro is quick to notice your injuries and awkward shuffling. He's suspicious. But he seems to be more concerned that you're injured.

You pull one of the curtains around you and push Karkat towards your pile of furs. This plan backfires as you get tangled in the drape and fall over. Kurloz is quick to untangle you and check for injuries. Luckily Karkat seems to have gotten caught in the drape as well and is currently struggling under it.

Okay, now you just gotta make sure Kurloz doesn't try to inspect Karkat for injuries. You decide to sign to him about how Karkat saved you from a jungle cat. That does not help the situation at all. Kurloz is surprised and starts to dig Karkat out of the drape. You try to come up with an excuse to convince Kurloz to leave Karkat alone. Before you can get Kurloz's attention back on you, Karkat's head pops out of the drape.

He has his eyes squeezed shut and is still flailing about. You tried to grab him and pull him to yourself. This results in Karkat hitting your injured shoulder by accident.

You yelp in pain, Karkat freezes in his flailing, and Kurloz's attention is back on you. You take the opportunity to pull the drape over Karkat's head.

Karkat starts shuffling backward and fell into the cooking pit in the visitor reception block. You made that hole pretty deep for a cooking pit.

Shit.

Before you could move, Kurloz lost his patience with you and Karkat's shenanigans. He pushes you back and pulls the drape out of the way. He squats down near the edge of the cooking pit and yanks Karkat out.

Be too tired for this shit.

You are now Kurloz and what the fuck is going on. You turn Karkat around to check him for injuries and sweet merciful messiahs he has red eyes. Your mind boggles at the fact that Karkat was able to keep this a secret for so long. You look him over for any other signs of being a spirit. He should have white hair.

You curse yourself internally and look where the sun doesn't shine. You then look at Gamzee with the intent to interrogate him, but he looks so miserable and his arm is broken. You sigh, grab the both of them and make your way out of Gamzee's hut.

You drag them back to your hut and grab another person on your way. You have Gamzee and Karkat sit in separate corners and send the extra person to let everyone know that Gamzee and Karkat have been found.

You want to scream so badly but instead, you give your little brother the stare down while you try to figure how you're going to get him to spill what the fuck happened. Luckily Gamzee starts gesturing and giving you the story before you could start.

"Bro, don't get mad. I was following Karkat around and I fell into the water. I almost motherfuckin drowned but Karkat saved me and he knows how to do this thing where he blows air back into you."

Gamzee is rambling. You hold up a hand to stop him. "Motherfucker, are you tellin me that this spirit is in love with you?"

Gamzee replies "We did have sloppy make-outs and he fought a jungle cat that tried to eat me." he gestures at his broken arm. Well, that explains how he broke his arm. You pinch the bridge of your nose and take a deep breath.

Your next gesture to Gamzee addresses a serious concern "How are you gonna explain this to dad?"