The owner of the voice obeyed, and the heavy weight lifted from Jade's legs. She was beginning to get over her embarrassment from her earlier thoughts and transitioned to feeling angry about the idea instead.

She furrowed her brow as low as she could in order to make her rage all the more unmistakable on her face. She glared up at Gamzee, who was happily staring off at something in the distance. How could he be in such a good mood? Where did all of his joviality come from? Was he high or something?

Jade wrenched both of her hands out of his grasp, and he let her go without any resistance. However, when she reached up to tap his face, he grabbed her hand and held it in place. He had a very tight grip and Jade felt her fury growing.

Karkat, meanwhile, was not amused by their antics. "Gamzee, I think she's mad. At you."

"Yeah?" Gamzee said in a dreamy voice. "I'm motherfucking mad too, bro."

Karkat scrunched up his nose and scowled. "Did you just make a joke?"

"Honk."

'What the fuck?' Jade thought, and succeeded in getting her hands back to herself again.

"Gamzee, that wasn't funny. I don't ever want to see you mad again. One time was enough." Karkat was glowering but his voice painted him with a secondary emotion. He sounded scared. "It's a damn miracle we found that pond of sopor slime."

Jade had no idea what "time" Karkat was referencing and fought confusion for a moment. She decided to focus on the more general questions in her mind. 'Sopor slime? The hell is that?'

"Motherfucking miracles sing wheelies in me all over the runaway rainbows. Honk," Gamzee singsonged.

'Whoa. There's definitely something weird about this guy,' Jade thought. She was still angry at him, though.

"Er, yeah." Karkat deflated. "You just keep eating that fucking sopor shit, buddy. It's way fucking better that way."

"Right on, motherfucker. That's what I'll soak up. I'm a motherfucking sponge for that tasty tar."

Was it just her, or did both of these trolls swear a hell of an awful lot?

Karkat sighed. "Yeah, I know. Good thing that pond replenishes itself," he mumbled.

They stopped talking then and glanced up- Tavros and a troll that Jade could only guess to be Sollux were meandering over to meet them. Gamzee started humming and Jade could feel his hands begin to pet her hair again, but this time she stopped his ministrations; she rapped his knuckles sharply and pushed his hands away from her head. Karkat started at this but stopped as confirmed for himself that she was angry at Gamzee for some reason still unknown to him. He didn't say anything about it for now. Likewise, Gamzee didn't speak, but he stopped reaching for her tresses. His humming also dropped in volume. Jade discerned that her actions had made him a bit unhappy. She told herself that she didn't care.

This newest troll huffed when he got within earshot. "Thith better be really fucking important, Kk. I wath doing thomething very cruthial to our well-being here."

Jade couldn't see either Tavros or Sollux at this angle; they were blocked by Karkat's body. However, her curiosity was piqued by Sollux's speech impediment. She used to have a lisp too, but it was never so noticeable as his was. How big were his fangs if he had to talk that way?

Karkat wasted no time in explaining the situation. "Jade's awake. But you were right in predicting that she wouldn't be able to speak clearly. Something in her think-pan is off."

There was a minute of musing on Sollux's part. "Tho, what do you want me to do about it?"

Karkat inhaled slowly, as if steeling himself for disappointment. "Can you read minds?"

Again, Sollux thought about this for a bit before answering. "Oh, I thee what'th going on. Okay. No, not in the way you'd think I could. I can't make out individual wordth, but I can interpret her pan's waveth and then maybe come up with a thentanth thhe might've thaid."

"Okay, fine. Can you do that right now?"

"Thure," Sollux said. He stepped around Karkat and Jade got a good look at him.

He wasn't very tall (maybe five foot seven), and he was wearing what looked to be the same kind of dark grey pants Karkat had on plus a black short-sleeved t-shirt. But instead of a Cancer symbol, this one had the astrological symbol for Gemini on it. Jade was starting to see a theme here.

But maybe those signs had nothing to do with astrology, seeing as she and they were from two different universes and probably assigned different meanings to things.

In fact, it was a miracle that they spoke English. Or a similar language to English, but that was just as well.

Sollux also had, like Karkat and Gamzee, grey skin. However, unlike them, he was wearing glasses with one red frame and one blue frame that obscured his eyes. Jade guessed that his eyes were similar to the other trolls' eyes anyway.

She was surprised by his teeth, though. He clearly had an overbite, and his fangs were protruding outside of his mouth. She could see that his teeth were kinda crooked. No orthodontists existed on their planet then, huh? Two pairs of short pointy horns stuck out of his head, and this would've alarmed her if she hadn't already seen Gamzee's pair of massive, twisted ones. And, strangely unlike Karkat's rumpled hair and Gamzee's wildly messy hair, Sollux's hair looked very nice. It shone in the dwindling sunlight, thick and smooth and perfectly cut. Jade wanted to ask him what shampoo he used. And she probably could, because he was placing both of his hands at her temples and concentrating on her forehead. Or her face. It was difficult to tell where he was looking, because of his shades.

"Mm, that'th interethting," Sollux murmured.

"What? What's going on?" Karkat asked. He sounded the littlest bit frantic. It was at this point that Jade came to the realization that Karkat was more worried about her than he appeared.

Sollux didn't bother to look up at Karkat as he answered. "Nothing to be panicked about, Kk. I jutht find it intriguing that her eyeth are tho diththimilar to ourth. Her iritheth are green."

"Oh," Karkat said quietly. "Yeah. They've always been green."

The three trolls surrounding Jade and Sollux were silent, waiting for Sollux's theory of what was going on in Jade's 'think-pan'. He was focusing so intensely on her forehead that even Jade waited with bated breath for his prognosis. His hands pressed on her cranium so hard that it began to hurt, and she struggled not to squirm. Finally, he took his hands off of her temples, and sat back from her head.

"Well?" Karkat demanded.

"Don't ruthh me. I'm thinking," Sollux grumbled.

Jade and the others waited while the Gemini carefully configured Jade's brain waves. After what seemed like a long time, he began to speak in a voice not unlike Jade's own, except with a pronounced lisp.

"I'm kind of embarraththed that Gamzee had to take care of me during the latht two days. I mean, I know that he was trying to keep me alive, but, thtill. I haven't known you guyth for very long and I dunno if I'm overreacting or not but I'd rather have not been wathhed by thomeone I don't know."

Karkat looked at Gamzee with a raised eyebrow, but the Capricorn cocked his head and shrugged.

'Oh, I guess he washed my hair without undressing me,' Jade thought. 'Well… oops. I got mad at him for no reason. Ah, I'll say sorry later.' For right now, though, Jade looked up at Gamzee with an apologetic grin. He ignored her. Boo him, then.

Sollux took a breath to continue, but then paused. Then he shook his head violently, as if trying to deny and banish something that had entered his mind. "Ugh... what the fuck, Jade. I didn't need to thee that."

Karkat glanced at Jade with a questioning look, but she shrugged. She had no idea what Sollux had taken from her mind, but his rendition of her thoughts was right on the mark.

Sollux resumed speaking in Jade's voice, "And I'm really exthited that Dave ith alive. Where ith Dave? Where ith John, too, for that matter? And oh my god, Rothe is dead! What the hell happened to her? Where's her body, I want to thee her, we need to have a proper funeral, oh my god. Oh, but I'm really thcared that there are fucking dinothaurth roaming the earth. Have you encountered any yet? And have you been able to kill them? Altho, you guyth look pretty weird to me. What'th up with your hornth? And your grey thkin? Gamzee, you need to comb your hair. You too, Karkat. Oh wow, Thollux, your hair is really pretty. Can I touch it? Hey, what kind of thhampoo do you uthe?"

The Gemini continued on in this manner for some time, listing all of the questions that had popped into Jade's head for the past hour. Throughout it all, Karkat and Tavros (who Jade still couldn't see clearly because he was sitting behind Karkat) listened attentively. Gamzee seemed to be completely out of it, though. He drank periodically from a pan of thick, acid green slime and more than once dripped some on Jade's face. She wiped it away, fuming at his carelessness.

Finally, Sollux was done speaking. Then he, Karkat and Tavros began talking. They were probably trying to figure out the best way to address Jade's numerous questions. Gamzee, content on not being the least bit helpful, slurped down more of the gelatinous slime. Sometimes the falling drops pattered on Jade's cheeks. Instead of cleaning her face off again (she knew it would be useless anyway), she let the beads of slime tingle against her skin.

The fluid felt cool; invitingly so. Jade's anger started to wane. She never could stay cross for long. Her gentle personality didn't allow for that. And besides, the troll above her was obviously quite out of it. Jade could give him a break. In all likelihood, he wasn't aware of anything he was dripping on her right now.

She was beginning to feel a little curious as to the nature of the oozy stuff. She did consider herself a scientist, after all. Why did Karkat say that it was better for Gamzee to be drinking it? Why did Gamzee like this shit so much? And... why wasn't he sharing any of it?

Jade licked her lips. Come to think of it, she was a bit thirsty. And though the slime had the texture of Jell-O and would perhaps not slake her thirst as much as water could, Jade wanted to try some of the goo.

Since she was still lying across Gamzee's lap, it was a simple task to lift her arms up and gesture to the container of slime, then point at her own mouth. The only obstacle Jade thought was going to be present was convincing Gamzee to share his ostensibly much beloved 'sopor slime'.

But to her delight, it wasn't a problem at all. Jade watched as the Capricorn slowly looked from the pie tin to Jade's face, focusing on her mouth. Then he grinned and lowered the slime bowl towards her, raising one of his knees and lifting her head with his free hand to help her sit up.

Just as Gamzee was about to let the container touch Jade's lips, there was a collective gasp from the trio of trolls sitting not too far away from the pair. A second later the pie tin was flying through the air; someone had knocked it rather forcibly out of Gamzee's hand.

"Uh, Gamzee? Um, that would have, uh, been a bad idea. I mean, um, a really bad idea."

Jade frowned. The troll who had denied her the taste of the slime had to be Tavros. Jade could see him now. And she thought, despite his timid voice, his physique was strangely imposing.

He wasn't all that tall. In fact, he was smaller than Sollux. And he wasn't especially muscular, although Jade could see some faint definition along his arms. He wore dusty tan cargo pants with lots of fun pockets and brown and white laced sneakers. His top ensemble consisted of an un-buttoned, short-sleeved black dress shirt over a black T-shirt stamped with a brown taurus symbol.

His skin, like all the other trolls' skin Jade had seen so far, was grey. And it needed lotion. His lips were black, and Jade could see the tips of his sharp teeth. However, what was most impressive about him were the gigantic horns situated on both sides of his head. Jade knew that it probably had something to do with his astrological sign; Tavros's horns reminded her strongly of longhorn bulls.

While she stared openly at Tavros, Gamzee said, "Aw, okay, my motherfuckin' bro. She just craved a taste a little. I wouldn't have gave her none at all if you motherfuckin' hadn't crashed into this fuckin' business."

Tavros nodded. "Um, sorry, Gamzee." And he truly looked the part of a remorseful friend.

The Taurus then noticed that Jade was staring quite determinedly at him. He blushed (or so Jade thought; his face turned significantly brown in color) and stumbled over his next couple of words.

"Ah, hi Jade, um..."

Karkat stepped in. "Oh for gog's sake. Jade, this is Tavros. He's also been helping to take care of you."

Sollux, for some unknown reason, snickered at this information. Karkat turned to glare at him. At least, that's what Jade imagined he was doing. Knowing quite a bit about Karkat's behavior, that's what she could see happening anyway.

The Cancer faced her direction again. He still wore a scowl. "So, to answer your hell of a long list of questions, we're going to take you back to the camp. It's down this hill, about a mile into that forest, near a river."

Karkat helpfully pointed off in the distance, but since Gamzee had lowered her back to lie down on the ground, she couldn't see where. But this was okay, as she wanted to stand up anyway. Then she would be able to see the encampment.

Why had Karkat and Gamzee brought her up here anyway? It was sort of far away from where the trolls had situated themselves. Perhaps for the fresh air of a higher elevation, or maybe so Gamzee could drink his dangerous slime away from the others? And about that slime...

Gamzee lifted Jade out of his lap, placing her head gently on the soft grass. Then he stood up. He was, she noticed with some surprise, freakishly tall. Around six feet, she thought, maybe even taller than that, not counting his monstrous horns. Jade tried to rise too, but the Capricorn prevented her from doing so. He stooped, scooped her up in his arms, and held her bridal style. Not for the first time that day, Jade was confused and irritated by his actions. She wriggled about, trying to make him drop her, but his grip just tightened.

Karkat, noting Jade's perplexed look and attempts to escape, explained. "You haven't been on your feet for a while, and we're kind of in a hurry. When the sun sets, the night prowlers will be on the move."

Jade froze. 'Night prowlers? Um, um...'

Sollux indicated the quickly sinking sun on the horizon. "We have half an hour to make it back. Thhould be enough time."

Karkat nodded. "Then let's go."

The group of five proceeded in an orderly fashion down the hill. Karkat led the way, Gamzee and Jade right behind him. Tavros and Sollux flanked Gamzee on the right and left, respectively.

As they walked silently down the hill, Jade had time to take in her surroundings. And at once, she discovered why Gamzee had chosen to bring her up here. It offered a much better view than a lower ground would have.

The hill was actually a small rise on an even taller mountain. All around them, bathed in the gold-pink light of the setting sun, was a lovely verdurous valley. And in that valley roamed the giants of the earth: Dinosaurs.

Though the dinosaurs were far away, Jade could spot a few of the larger ones. Apatosauri, she thought they were, with their long, graceful necks sweeping across the tops of trees, gathering mouthfuls of green, leafy foliage. It must be summer here.

In her excitement and awe of the land below, she opened her mouth to speak her appreciation of it. But as before, no coherent sounds passed her lips. Frustrated, she huffed and crossed her arms instead. Gamzee, aware of Jade's discontent, remarked on the very subject she had been trying to find words for.

"Ain't it motherfuckin' beautiful?"

Despite his crude description, Jade had to agree with him. She nodded her concurrence.

"The thpacethip we were riding crathhed in the valley," Sollux said suddenly. "We couldn't thtay there becauthe of the copiouth amountth of carnivorouth animalth. Tho we relocated to thith high altitude."

"... um, there aren't a lot of, uh, hungry creatures that are up here. Um, and I can persuade, uh, them to leave the camp alone. Usually," Tavros added.

Jade raised her head more to observe Tavros. He was blushing again, perhaps embarrassed by his boasting.

"Yeah, my motherfuckin' bro harshes the herd, and every bitter beast scrapes the motherfuckin' ground up to beat it," Gamzee supplied, grinning at Tavros.

Karkat looked over his shoulder to Jade. "You'll be perfectly fucking safe within the campgrounds. Those damned animals don't even come near our part of the river anymore."

She was grateful for their reassurances and relaxed. Gamzee's tight grip on her body loosened, and she had this odd feeling that he could sense her inner emotions with astounding accuracy.

They entered the forest. Jade glanced around at the densely packed trees. There was hardly a path for them to follow, but somehow Karkat picked a trail through woodland.

Now that it was nearing sunset, there wasn't much light filtering in through the thick canopy of leaves. Maybe trolls were more suited to nocturnal traveling, but Jade couldn't help but feel nervous by the absence of illumination in their current environment. The background noises that accompanied the environment were not helping either.

Tinny chittering, chirping and even the occasional croak filled her ears. And though Jade tried to concentrate on the treetops, the din nevertheless held her attention. Her mind flitted back to the jungle by her old home; the one that Grandfather brought back such dangerous creatures from. He had taken her on a few hunting trips with him, but eventually decided it was too slow going to partner with such a young girl. But even before then, Jade had had the common sense to judge that the jungle was too perilous to risk venturing into anyway.

She closed her eyes and tried to relax again. 'This forest isn't that jungle,' she told herself. 'There are no-'

There was a loud crunching sound and she jumped. Well, as much as it was possible to jump while being carried.

Karkat raised his hand to stop his followers, halting the party of five. The Cancer crouched, searching the ground. Everyone waited patiently for his findings.

He stood up not a moment later, holding something large, long, and stained with red.

"A bone," Sollux stated quite plainly.

"Yeah, and it's freshly pulled from some poor beast's socket," Karkat said.

Jade grimaced at that imagery. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tavros make a similar face.

Karkat continued, the pitch of his voice slightly higher. "This isn't Equius's work."

They were all silent for a moment, contemplating the meaning of this. Sollux spoke up.

"Tho, we thhould keep moving. Preferably more quickly."

Four versions of agreement answered the Gemini, and the trolls picked up the pace through the forest.

Somewhere in the swiftly falling darkness before them, a murderous growl sounded.