Despite there being very few sailors on Alternia, two of the biggest ships on the planet were about to meet each other. The first was magnificent. It was tall, well-kept, and despite its considerable age was still shining a bright blue as it always had. Its soft, pliable sails cradled the wind with a distinctive firmness. As it created a cresting wake in the sea behind it, the boat sped smoothly toward the other ship.
But that other ship was not moving at all. In fact, it was split in two, landlocked on a tiny, barren island. Its splintered wood and severed ropes had the same color uniformity as its intact counterpart, but in a deep teal. However, this ship could be considered almost as important as the other. Because, in its seemingly barren wreckage, a royal blooded troll took residence. And he had made it fit for a prince.
Eridan was mildly alarmed at the great shadow that was cast suddenly on his hive. In a normal situation, nothing would have emerged out of the morning mist. He shot up from his chair to investigate it. Walking briskly toward a window, he tossed his scarf over his shoulder to secure it in place. This action combined with the soft swishing of his deep violet cape reassured him. He was authority. Surely, he would confront whatever was out there with confidence.
But when he cast his dark eyes upon the shadowy shape outside his window, he knew he would have to fight to keep that dignity.
He couldn't see it very well, as he had not donned his glasses yet, but there was no mistaking the great spined monstrosity seventy or so yards away from the sand bank. Vriska's ship was identifiable even through unfocused eyes. Eridan cursed. He was either in serious trouble or had something she wanted. Or both.
Eridan figured she must already be on her way to shore. His vision wasn't quite sharp enough to tell apart a rowboat from the water, but he knew Vriska well enough. She never waited for anybody. As quickly as he could, Eridan trotted over to a small end table where his glasses lay, awaiting usage. He scooped them up with a hurried hand, holding them up to his eyes to check for imperfections. He found several. The scarf he was wearing served as an excellent cloth for cleaning lenses, so that was what he used to remove the smudges on the glass. Then, taking care not to slip on the stairs, Eridan wasted no time in running to meet Vriska before she met him.
Meanwhile, the other troll was in her rowboat, churning the water below her between condescending chuckles. Unlike the prince, Vriska had been born with perfect vision. In fact, her vision was more than perfect. So perfect that it surpassed an average troll's vision eightfold. So, naturally, she had seen the entire progression of Eridan's expressions as he took in the scene she had created. It felt almost nostalgic, toying with him. He always gave such rewarding reactions to her showmanship. This wasn't the best reaction she had received, but she was still proud of how she timed her entrance to capture the morning light. She would have to save that idea for future use.
After she dismounted onto the silky sand, she began to recall how she used to keep track of the ways Eridan would try to make it look like he was expecting her. Whether it was a personal visit or an impersonal raid, he would always do something to exaggerate his demeanor. To try and make his countenance more intimidating. It never worked. Vriska was curious to see if that stuck-up highblood still clung to that particular quirk.
He did.
When Vriska let herself in, Eridan was perching on a plush lounge chair, legs crossed awkwardly. His right hand grasped his left knee, while his left hand fingered a long white wand. He rolled it around in his fingers, pretending to casually examine it. His lips were slightly pursed, eyebrows hanging low. All in all, he looked really stupid.
"It's been a while, fish lips," crooned Vriska, assuming an assertive pose.
"Not long enough," Eridan countered, taking care not to glance at his guest.
Vriska took a few steps forward, speaking as she walked for dramatic effect. "Figured I should catch up, with how long it's been. How's Feferi? I assume you're taking care of her." She obviously didn't care about Feferi.
Eridan didn't look up from scrutinizing his wand. "I don't need to. She's not why you came, though."
"What do you know about why I came?" Vriska lowered her voice here, beginning to circle around his chair in even, measured strides.
"What do you want, Vriska?" Eridan would waste no time with idle chatter. He finally confronted the other troll, making eye contact and standing up to meet her eyes.
"I just wanted to hear you say my name in that cute little accent of yours," bantered Vriska, intent on wasting more time.
"Is this about skating? I assume you want me to get you a spot in the pair skating finals. I didn't know you were the pair skating type, Vriska. Who's the lucky guy?"
"I only skate free," stated Vriska, as if she didn't say that every time skating was brought up. "But you were right about skating. I need a favor from you."
"As I expected. Let's get this over with."
"Did Gamzee tell you who your competitors are?"
"No, he didn't say much. His teaching techniques are… unique. And by unique, I mean he's a spongedead nookstain. He picked me up, Vriska! He threw me across the rink like an empty bottle of his 'sweet elixir' or whatever. May as well have thrown me in the ocean, like most landdwellers do with their empty bottles. Insipid dirtmunchers."
"Um, we're talking about me here, not the clown."
"Isn't that all you talk about?"
"Let me finish! So you don't know who you're competing with, right?"
"Whatever. No."
"Okay. I'll just spoil it for you right now. I'm choreographing for one of your competing pairs."
"So? Do you actually care about them at all? I'm assuming you want me to take it easy on them."
"Don't jump to conclusions. This is still about me."
"Oh. Great."
"Scratch entrusted me with those two thinkpanless urchins. I'm already in trouble with him. If I don't prove myself, I could be out of a job."
"Wait, why are you in trouble with Scratch?"
Vriska hesitated, but decided to give it away in this situation. After all, it would be really inconvenient if she couldn't get Eridan to agree with her.
She reached into the inside of her jacket, caressing the inner pocket that a certain seamstress cohort had sewn on just for a dramatic moment such as this. Hand closing on a round, smooth object, she brought it into the light. Its seamless white surface glinted in the low morning sunlight. Eridan's fins flexed a bit in knowledge of what the object was. He had seen it before, in Doc Scratch's office.
"I'm usually not a compulsive thief," Vriska explained, "But I'd heard rumors… Well anyway, I don't know if he noticed or knows if I have it. But if I mess up my job, he'd have a great reason to fire me."
"Can't you just return it?"
"Haha. No way I'm gonna do that."
"So you want me to score worse than whoever you're over. Am I right about that?"
"Right."
Eridan pursed his lips and turned his eyes to the corner of his vision in a second of consideration. "Nope. Won't do it."
Vriska frowned. "Dude. I just gave you my best sob story. I even brought the cue ball!"
"I work for Scratch too! I want to keep this job. Fef loves it."
"Don't start on your Feferi feelings."
"I want to be there for her! You wouldn't understand, you don't care about anyone else."
"Ugh. You're unbelievable, you know that?"
"Not as unbelievable as you."
"Fine. You don't wanna help me, I'll do it myself."
"Works for me. Why don't you get that monstrosity of a ship off of my front lawnring?"
"Oh really? I was planning on leaving this island some other way. What a shame, I'll have to obey His Royal Grubsucker's command." She mocked a curtsy in his direction. With a dignified, condescending flair, Vriska tossed her hair as she turned to leave.
"Pretentious pustule," muttered Eridan as she whisked out the door. It really was a shame she was so attractive, he thought. He couldn't hate her enough to step out of the range of kismessitude. But those days were behind him. In the future, he might need her powers or vision, but he would never need her blackrom.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes, knocking his glasses to the floor. He winced a bit at the potential damage to his lenses, but made no effort otherwise to retrieve them. At this point, all he wanted was to be back on the ice. Just skating, not worrying about their performance. And not by himself. With Feferi. He inhaled briefly, taking in the salty, water-saturated air. If only there was a way to enjoy something without working for it.
Shadows didn't appear often above Feferi's hive. Large lusii usually knew not to swim near the tentacles of the monstrous Gl'bgolyb. But a ship passing overhead cast quite the large shadow onto the seafloor. The cuttlefish in Feferi's respiteblock scattered, jetting themselves into closed-off spaces. A bright green one sped past the crown of her head, churning the water near her horns just enough to snap her out of a reverie.
Feferi's hair billowed around her face when she glanced around the room, trying to discern the source of the commotion. Taking note this strange shadow, she mimicked the cuttlefish's movements to propel herself out her hive window. Open ocean was all that was in front of her. But above? Through a screen of blue-tinted seawater, the shape of an artificially-made hull showed clear in Feferi's vision. One of Eridan's ships? No, it was land bound. Perhaps it was Vriska's, she thought. Grinning at the notion, she decided to make her way up to meet her moirail.
Of course, she didn't need to swim the whole way. She clicked her tongue twice, creating two twin sharp sounds that carried all the way to her respiteblock. Before long, a ribbon-adorned aquatic hoofbeast answered the call. With its powerful finned tail, it beat the water behind it to swim towards Feferi. She grasped the reins with a ring-adorned hand. Mounting the gentle beast, she secured herself tightly on its back. With a flick of the reins, she was off to the surface.
The prince was cautiously peering out the window when his skating partner began to emerge from the sea. So now, instead of tentatively watching for Vriska to leave, he perked up a bit. A familiar face with the intention of being friendly! It was oddly refreshing, even after his single encounter with Vriska.
Feferi smiled when Eridan burst out the door. His actions so mismatched his expression, it was humorous. He rushed out to meet her like an excited young barkbeast, yet his expression was as stern as ever. It made her wonder a bit at what he really felt. But this thought, she decided, was better left for later.
"Was that Vriska?" she chirped in a singsong voice.
"I regret to say that it was," called Eridan, more monotone in this expression. Feferi deepened her grin.
"Are you in a kismesis again?" She gasped. "Are you seaing each other now?"
"No, it's not-"
"Too late! I ship it! It's not up for debait!"
He cocked his head a bit to the side. "You… ship it?"
"You mean you don't know what shipping is?"
"Is this more landdweller slang?"
"No! Well, yes, but it's a word for something that didn't have a name before!"
Eridan put on an unimpressed expression. "Uh-huh…"
"It means to really like a relationship between two people. Also, it's a magnifishent fish pun!"
"Well, whatever. We are NOT getting back together. She just wanted to make sure we weren't competing against the pair she's choreographing for."
"Did you agree?"
Eridan looked at her quizzically. "Are you off your swaychair? No! We're, like, the grubbing dream team, remember? We'll crush them!"
"Will that make you feel better?" Softly inquired Feferi, playing the role of the voice of reason once again.
"Lumpsquirting right it will. Vriska will hurt for it, and so will her two… peons."
She hesitated a bit, processing what he wanted. But after a moment of contemplation, she placed her hand on her partner's shoulder. "Well, if they're going down, I'll help you pin them to the seafloor!"
Ignoring the delicate touch of his beautiful friend's hand as best as he could, Eridan nodded. "Let's do it together, Fef."
"That's pretty sappy, but okay!"
"When can we practice next? I feel like I just want to get on the ice again."
"Well…" Feferi winced a bit, sorry to see the fire in his eyes inevitably extinguish. "The rink is closed today. Maintenance and all."
"Hmph." Eridan slumped a little. "What did we do to that ice? Are they just so shocked at finding actual talent they wanted to clean it up?"
"Don't be like that, now. It's their monthly routine. Everything gets checked, and if it all appiers to be running swimmingly, we get to go back the next day."
"Can't they make an exception?"
"Well, we can visit a different rink, but then you'd have to deal with the landdwellers' second best."
"I'd rather cull myself."
"Exactly."
"So what do we do? Sit around and pretend we're skating?"
"We cod… practice our skating underwater."
"That's a terrible idea."
"I know." The ocean was the only participant in the conversation for several seconds. It gently crept its way up and down the sand, a smooth afterthought to the slightly threatening breakers far offshore. Feferi would have been content to listen to it for hours, just matching her breaths with the pace of the waves. However, she was well aware that her friend was impatient. She scanned her brain for ideas to help his attitude.
There was a faint whoosh in the distance, and both trolls heeded it. No unusual sound for a heartbeat. Then, another practically identical noise, this time much louder. Feferi deduced that the source was behind them, obscured from view by Eridan's hive. Another repeated noise, the displacement of air incredibly apparent at this distance.
All Eridan saw in that moment was a flurry of massive feathers on massive wings. An enormous spleenfowl lusus, gliding directly over his hive! His hair ruffled in the draft the bird created. At once, he could see every detail on that creature. Every teal-flecked feather. Those brainless, empty eyes. Every element of it was begging to be drenched in its own blood. He could just imagine the thrill of hunting such a beast!
Feferi had already pulled a gilded trident from her strife specibus. "Whale, looks like you're thinking exactly what I'm thinking!" She didn't need a reply. Eridan's rifle was in his hands and sparks were in his eyes. "Let's go!" she cried, sending him and herself to fight their problems away.
Every evening, Tavros drove the Zamboni.
It was just a fact in his life. He wasn't talented enough to skate in the big leagues. He didn't have any sort of training in an occupation. And on top of that, all of his friends were skating for the entire planet of Alternia. Granted, it wasn't a very populous planet. Skating usually was second fiddle to volleyball as well. But none of that really mattered to the lowblood. This was the only way he could feel important in the slightest.
Not that he minded at all. The low rumble of the machinery below him felt soothing. If he ever lost his ability to communicate with animals, he would turn to the mechanical world. But it's a job. And eventually, every job has to be performed.
Tavros sat at the head of the machine, absentmindedly guiding it around the perimeter of the rink. He took the time to think. To ponder his purpose in this icy sport. To come to terms with his longing to be more involved, but also his unwillingness to do so. But that thinking would have to wait. There was another troll by the sidelines, calling his name. She peeked over her pointed red glasses, an accessory that mirrored her triangular horns well.
"Hey! Tav! Get over here, you've got a message!"
"A… message?" He repeated her last word, shutting off the machine to hear her better.
"Yeah, it's from your girlfriend! Come closer so I don't have to yell!"
"Um, okay!" He staggered out onto the ice, feet slipping at every step as he attempted to make his way the entire length across.
"Use! The Zamboni!" Terezi cried, unwilling to watch him slide much more. It took a few minutes, but it is to be assured that Tavros made his way to Terezi's side.
"What's the, uh, story?" he asked after the ordeal.
"I found Vriska just now. She ran into me on the street. Said she had to see you."
"Is she… coming? Now?"
"Relax, I saved you from her. I offered to give her proposition in her place."
"Thank goodness."
"Yeah, she wants you to sabotage the rink or something. Apparently she doesn't like Eridan and Feferi's chances of winning." Tavros knew exactly what she meant.
"I, uh… don't know if I can do that," he squeaked. "If I do, I might lose my job…"
"Nah, don't worry about it. She's got a lot of irons in the fire. She'll totally forget about it."
"Right… you're right."
"I'm just surprised she didn't say anything about Gamzee. He's her real competitor, after all." Tavros was suddenly interested.
"Gamzee's skating this season too?"
"Psh. That guy will never retire. He's raking in so many boondollars right now." He was unusually thrilled about this prospect. It would be an understatement to say that he admired the highblooded skater.
"Do you think he'll win again this season?"
"Eh. At this point, it's hard to tell. I only care about the actual performance anyway." There was an awkward silence for a moment, mostly due to Tavros' lack of general social skill.
"Well, I've got a bunch of irons myself," said Terezi, breaking the silence. "Just stopped by to clear Vris' thing with you."
"Okay. Take care, Terezi."
"You too."
Back to the daily grind for Tavros. Someday, he thought, he would be out there. Not just maintaining the ice. Not just becoming a link in a complex construct. No, he would be out there someday. Someday when confidence was not such a rare commodity. He would skate one day.
Just not anytime soon.