You and Terezi chatted for about another 2 hours before the others woke up. Gamzee hadn't woken up when the others had. He slept for another 3 hours. The asshole was still exhausted when he finally hauled his ass out of the sleeping bag. You yourself were still ridiculously tired, but thanks to that fucking lump on the ground, you couldn't get yourself back to sleep. Maybe that was or the best, though. You don't fair well with Horror Terrors. Terezi kept trying to make you fall asleep. She tried an arrangement of things. She had sung a Tribal lullaby, and when she was finished, you were close to falling asleep. But, you caught yourself. Then, she had pulled your head into her lap and forced you to lay down. She started rubbing your forehead, and at this point, you were unconscious. Rubbing a Troll's forehead is a custom for Troll's (who kept their grubs after receiving them) to get their grubs to fall asleep. It obviously still works on you. You're pretty sure that Terezi had also tried that because she thought of you as a grub. But, her doing that knocked you out within 3 minutes, and it also got you a couple minutes of sleep, and you're thankful for that.

When you were younger, Kanaya would do that same thing to help you fall asleep when your dreams were pillaged with Horror Terrors. It would calm you down within seconds. Her hands were always so soft, and it helped add to the soothing effect. Who you thought was your Genetic Donor did that as well. That is, whenever he was around. Ahh, your youth was a wonderful think.

Currently, you're being dragged somewhere by Gamzee. The two of you had left camp a few minutes ago,and you've been walking ever since. You had no idea where he was bringing you, and whenever you'd ask him, he'd always say: "The stars". What does that even mean? Was he going to send you up into the endless black that surrounded your planet? How was he going to do that? This is the part where you're supposed to jump to the conclusion that Gamzee was going to turn you into the Drones and they were going to ship you off into space on that labor ship. You know Gamzee's not going to turn you in, so you're telling your pan to fuck off.

Gamzee stops when he reaches a large, grassy hill that overlooks everything you've seen in the past couple of nights. He drops down and sits cross-legged on a soft patch of grass. He pats the ground beside him, gesturing you to sit by him. And, of course, you do.

"Look at the sky, Karbro." Gamzee tells you, his own eyes wandering the skies. Lifting your head, you stare up at the sky with him, but, this time, you're astonished by the sight you see.

The sky is a beautiful hue of fuchsia and several shades of purple melded together. The moons shine brightly over the sky, illuminating the parts around them with slight green and pink luminescence. There are so many stars scattered around in different areas, some forming, as far as you can tell, constellations.

A soft gust of air blows by you and Gamzee, causing you to shiver as you watch the stars and moons give off their beautiful Light. You could see your Breath puffing out in front of you as you breathe. It /was/ rather chilly out, so you're not surprised you can see your breath. You drag your attention back to the beautiful Space of the sky, as you continue to spend your Time watching the stars shine.

"Do you know where we are?" Gamzee asks you, eyes scanning the sky. You shake your head. "This is the viewing Grounds. Out tribe comes here to see their path in life. Every time one of us returns, the sky rearranges itself to match that specific Troll's destiny. What you're seeing now, bro, is my set path."

You continue to stare at the sky in wonder as Gamzee continues to speak.

"The number of stars you see shows how many sweeps of livin' I got left." He explains. "And, all of the constellations tell ya who you're going to meet, and who you've already met. There's no distinction between the two, so it's usually just a surprise. What's your sign, brother?"

You tear your eyes down from the sky to look down at your shirt. It's been so long since you've thought about this kind of stuff, you've started to forget. You examine the black symbol on your shirt, and begin to think. It meant "the crab", you know that much. But, what was its proper name? A few moments of thinking has the name ringing in your pan brightly. "Cancer."

Gamzee examines the sky and then points.

"Right there." He says, pointing to one of the constellations. You look to where he's pointing. It's one of the smaller sigils in the sky. "Looks like we were destined to meet after all."

He smiles at you, and you smile back.

"You ready to see yours?" Gamzee questions you and you nod. "Alright. Give it a sec."

You stare back at the sky, awaiting to see what the stars have to say about it. It's a couple of minutes before the sky changes itself around. More stars and different constellations appear in the place of Gamzee's. There are a lot more stars and constellations filling the sky than there were before.

"Whoa..." You speak. "There's so many..."

"You see, brother?" The shaman began. "The stars already set the path to your destiny. The path you take, the trolls you meet. They were there all along." He turned his head and grinned at you. "The Gods already have your story played out. You've got a long life ahead of ya."

"So..." You begin. "Does that mean they wont catch me?"

"Seems like it." Gamzee grins. You sigh with relief. That means you can relax some more. "But, that's only for now. The entire chart could change even five minutes from now. But, I doubt it will. It rarely does that, you should be fine."

Oh. Well, fuck, here comes your anxiety. Great. Because you totally needed that right now. Regardless of the news, you continue searching the sky. There are 9 constellations up there. That's 9 Trolls that you have already met, and/or are going to meet eventually. If only you could determine what the constellations were, then you could identify who they are. Though, you guess that'd be spoiling the surprise. And from what you can gather, nobody likes spoilers.

Your mind hops to a completely different plane and now questions fill your head.

"Gamzee," You begin. "Do... Do the starts show who a Troll will end up with? Quadrant wise, I mean..."

Gamzee begins to laugh.

"Why, does my little buddy have quadrant crushes on some lucky Trolls?" He asks, still laughing. You feel heat rush up to your cheeks. Fuck, you're blushing, and you're getting increasingly embarrassed as time ticks on. You avoid his eyes as they examine your face. "That a yes?"

You mumble a quiet "kinda" in response to his question. You pull your hood over your head to help hide your face.

"Who ya crushin' on, bro?" Gamzee begins to throw more questions your way. You shake your head. "C'mon dude, y'know I wont tell a soul."

You shake your head again.

"It's either me or Terezi, bro." He points out laughing a bit as he spoke. Fuck, he was right. Damn him. "I'm gonna go out on a whim here and guess you're crushin' on little miss teal beauty."

You whine, and the fucker /knows/ he's right.

"Shit, man, I am /good/." He chuckles. "So, you flushed, pale, or black for our little princess?"

You shrug a bit. To be honest, you're quite conflicted over your feelings for her. You're not sure if it's just a petty grub crush that you always get on other Trolls. All of your past Matesprits and Kismesis' were just crushes you had at the time, and once you got them, you felt nothing. There was never a spark. It was just fake. Terezi probably just annoys you. But, then you have the things she did earlier... God, you can't tell if she likes you or not and it's aggravating the fuck out of you! It's only been a night since you got here, and you're already horn over fucking heals black for some girl you just met! How pathetic is that?!

"Ya think it's a grub crush?" Gamzee asks.

"What are you, a fucking pan reader?!" You should, not exactly meaning to. Your frustration is getting the better of you.

"Somethin' like that." He grins. So, he /has/ been reading your pan. "Not exactly pan readin', brother, it's more complicated."

You roll your eyes.

"Yes, it's probably just a grub crush, Gamzee." You mumble, putting emphasis on his name. "This happens a lot. I may be great when it comes to Romantic advice, but I can't get my fucking quadrants under control. Like, whenever I get someone I was flushed, pale, or black for in that specific quadrant, I lose interest completely."

"Then, it's a grub crush." Gamzee says. "You have to listen to your blood pushed, Karbro, not your pan. Your pan don't know shit."

There's silence.

"But, to answer your question, no, the stars do not show who a Troll will end up with." He explains. "Love or Hate ain't something anybody but yourself can decide for ya. Your romantic life it somethin' you have to manage on your own, you get me?"

You nod in response. You're not sure why, but what he just said made your pumper flutter for a moment. Honest to Mother Grub, you have no fucking idea what's wrong with you. Some of the things this guy says to you makes you really fucking happy. Gamzee's really insightful despite being a Tribal rat. That's something you can respect and admire. Silence overtakes the two of you yet again, and you lift your head to view the sky again.

You notice that your sign is up there. Is it supposed to be there? Thinking back to Gamzee's star chart, you realize that his sign wasn't up there. Does that mean you're going to meet someone who shares your sign? Maybe they're your real Genetic Donor! Oooh, it'd be great to meet the Troll who helped create you. Now you're excited.

"You satisfied with your destiny?" Gamzee asks.

"As long as I don't die, yes." You answer. "I am satisfied."

"Alright then." He says, standing up. "Then, let's head back to camp."

He extends a hand out to you, and you grab it. He pulls you up.

"Hey," You start. "Can we not tell Terezi about... y'know..."

"'Course bro." He chuckles. "It's our little secret.

"Promise?" You ask again.

"Promise." He holds on his hand again, his pinky extended. How childish. Who even does pinky swears anymore?

You do. That's who.

You mimic Gamzee's hand, and link your pinkies together.

"If you tell her, I'll kill you." You threaten him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Gamzee says, wrapping an arm around your shoulder and dragging you along. "I'm a man of my word, Karkat, you've got nothin' to worry about."

You nod as he pats your arm reassuringly. Your blood pushed keeps speeding up, and you're not sure why. What is this asshole DOING to you? He needs to cut out all the fucking pale flirting. What's he trying to do, get you to become his Moirail?

You're not that easy to budge.