I haven't updated in a while, have I? Oops. . . . Anyways, have another lil!Signless chapter! + Meulin, which is always fun. I think this is the only proper one with them as kids. The last one I have written with them as kids is more a drabble than anything else.

Timewise: This goes after chapter 3 (where we meet Meulin for the first time) and before chapter 4 (where we sort-of get introduced to Psii).

Disclaimer: I don't own Homestuck or any of the characters here; they belong to Andrew Hussie.

Word count: 2,575

Meulin hadn't forgotten about the strange cloaked troll she had fought with over the hoofbeast. But as the days wore on, she thought about him less and less. However, now that she was aware of his presence in the forest, she saw signs of his existence when she was out hunting or foraging. He was awful at covering his tracks. She never actually saw him, though, and she wished vehemently that he would leave what she considered her forest and stop eating prey that was hers.

Now, however, she wasn't thinking about him. Winter was closing in fast and she was walking down to the waterfall to fish. It was only a mile or so from her cave, not far at all. She hiked quickly, wanting to have as much time to fish as possible, humming under her breath as she always did. She hadn't sung properly ever since discovering the other troll in the forest. She wondered, often with a deep green blush across her cheeks, if he'd seen her dancing. The very thought made her berate herself for being such an oblivious fool and not paying attention to her surroundings. She could hear the roar of the waterfall now, and could see where the swiftly moving river went careening over the cliff. This part of her territory didn't have many trees at all. It was mostly hard rocks and shrubby bushes.

She looked absentmindedly at the other side of the river, which had several berry bushes. She knew there were much more at the bottom of the waterfall, but it was very hard to get to and required clambering down boulders to get down there. Maybe she'd go tomorrow with her bag and see what little berries had survived.

Meulin stopped just at the edge of the cliff, grinning at the thunderous sound the waterfall made as it smashed into the rocks below. The spray caught the light and a rainbow arced from the frothing waters. The oliveblood clutched her spear and moved back a little ways. A line of rocks formed a precarious path to the opposite side. Using the butt of her spear to make sure that the rocks weren't wobbly, Meulin hopped cautiously from rock to rock, every once in a while looking up at the berry bushes on the other side. The rocks were slippery, and there were several moments where she thought for sure she would tumble over. The water roared around her feet, mist spraying her and making her shiver. She was about halfway across when she paused, confused. She didn't remember this part.

From where she was standing, there were only two options to continue on to the next safe rock. One was a log wedged precariously between the two rocks, but poking it with her spear informed her that it wasn't secure. The other choice was a rock half-submerged in the water, but it was too close to the cliff's edge for her liking. Standing there, Meulin nibbled her lower lip, brows drawn together. Had she hopped to the wrong rock earlier? She could have sworn that she'd never gotten this close to the edge before. She prodded the log again, and the water submerged it completely. When it emerged again, it was dark with water and even less secure than it had been before. If she stepped on that, she would definitely fall. Meulin poked the rock near the cliff with the spear. It was rock steady and held firm, although its surface was glistening with moisture. Taking a deep breath, Meulin lunged at it.

For a second, her foot landed safely on it, and she grinned triumphantly. Her grin vanished as the log lurched from its spot, careening towards her. Frantically, she leaped to the next rock. Her foot slipped and, with a terrified scream, she fell. Within seconds the current had swept her off of the cliff and down the waterfall.

Kankri's basket barely had a dozen berries in it, and he'd already been here for hours. He pushed aside a clump of leaves, searching for more berries. He and his mother desperately needed them to survive the winter, and he was determined to keep looking until he was certain that there wasn't a single one left. Unfortunately for him, the animals had had the same idea, and they'd already come through here while he'd been sleeping. Gritting his teeth, he moved on to the next bush. He could hear the roar of the waterfall now. A couple more bushes and there wouldn't be any more.

I hope Mother's having better luck, he thought. The Dolorosa was searching for roots and edible plants on the other side of the forest, where animals hopefully couldn't reach. A high-pitched scream suddenly echoed, bouncing off of the rocks. Birds scattered into the sky, and Kankri whirled towards the sound just as it abruptly cut off. The waterfall. Without thinking, he dropped his basket of berries and sprinted towards the waterfall. He arrived barely in time to see a dark shape as it tumbled down, thrown mercilessly from boulder to boulder. The shape swept past him and Kankri did one of the stupidest things he'd ever done in his life.

He threw off his cloak and jumped in.

The water was freezing cold and a shock to the mutant troll. For a second, he forgot how to swim. But then he remembered and kicked up, gasping for breath. The current was pushing him downstream faster than he'd have thought it possible, and boulders hidden beneath the water scraped him. He caught sight of pitch black hair further downstream and swam towards it. Luckily, the person had gotten caught on a branch, and he grabbed onto them, wrapping his arms around their chest. Kicking as hard as he could, he struggled to swim back to shore. But the troll was dead weight and the cold was painful and he kept inhaling mouthfuls of freezing water. After what felt like an eternity, he had dragged them both up onto the shore. Both trolls sat there, hacking and coughing up water. They were both shivering violently. As soon as he'd stopped vomiting up river water, Kankri hurriedly checked to make sure that none of his candy-red blood was visible. The water had washed away most of it, and the only really noticeable one was the gash on the back of his hand. Dimly, he realized that must have happened when he'd torn the troll off of the branch. Pulling down his sleeve to cover it, he looked at the troll he'd rescued. She was lying on the rocky ground, still coughing up water. His jaw dropped, immediately recognizing her as the troll who he'd fought with a perigree or so ago. Her wild black hair was sopping wet and undoubtedly extremely heavy, and her eyes — vaguely olive in their middles — were half-lidded as she lay there. She was thin for a troll, no doubt caused from living in the woods, and extremely short. If he had to guess, he'd say that most of her weight was her hair.

Olive blood oozed from the multiple scratches that crossed her grey skin, and she moaned in pain once she'd finished hacking up water.

Hastily, Kankri kneeled over her. "What's wrong?"

She hissed furiously, dragging herself laboriously away from him. From her movements, he recognized that she'd done something to her leg. It had probably broken, at the very least, from her fall. He backed up to gave her space. "I won't hurt you," he promised, eyeing her like he would a feral meowbeast, "but you're hurt. You need help."

She snarled wordlessly, although she'd stopped trying to get away and merely sat there, gasping for breath and blinking tiredly.

As unobtrusively as he could, Kankri held out his uninjured hand. "Here, let me help you." Maybe she sensed no ill will on his part, or maybe she knew she would die if left alone, or maybe she knew her leg wouldn't heal by itself before winter. Either way, the oliveblood stopped growling and cautiously took his hand. Her round eyes were wary and she flinched when he gently helped her to her feet. "Can you walk?" Kankri asked, relieved that she'd agreed to come. He couldn't in good conscience leave a troll to die in the woods, and it would be a lot easier to get her to come with him with her coming of her own free will.

The troll nodded, although she practically collapsed as soon as she tried to take a step. To her eternal credit, she wasn't crying, although her face was stark white and her teeth were clenched. Kankri guessed that he probably would cry if he had a broken leg. And so he picked her up as carefully as he could so that she was behind him, linking his arms beneath her knees, and walked her up the gentle slope that led back to the waterfall.

The river had taken them surprisingly far in what felt like not much time at all. Kankri was tired long before he even caught sight of the spot where he'd dropped his cloak, although he of course merely grit his teeth and kept walking. The oliveblood's grip around his neck was tight, and she shivered in the cold air. It wasn't long before she relaxed, propping her chin on his head, between his horns. For some reason, this didn't make Kankri uncomfortable. In this world of hunt or be hunted, it would make any troll uncomfortable to have a near-stranger's arms around their neck.

Kankri couldn't care less.

He was relieved when they finally got to the base of the waterfall, which thundered on as if nothing had happened. The oliveblood hissed at the sight of it, and he smiled wryly. Luckily, they were on the right side of the river and didn't have to cross it. He doubted he could've leap-frogged across the rocks with her on his back. Soon he had bent down and retrieved his cloak and basket (all of the berries were either gone or smushed, unfortunately). "You alright?" he asked.

It was the first time that either had spoken. "I'm fine," she said after a heartbeat. "Although I lost my spear." He nodded and started walking into the forest, careful to duck lower than usual when going under branches and walking as steadily as he could to avoid jostling her leg. She was the one who spoke again, but only after he'd been walking in this manner for a while. "Why'd you save me?"

Kankri shrugged, panting slightly from the exertion. "Hmm. I suppose I couldn't just leave you, could I?"

The oliveblood didn't say anything. Because he couldn't talk and breathe at the same time, he didn't press her, choosing to focus on the route he was taking and praying they didn't run into any predators.

Shoot. The Dolorosa was going to kill him when he got back. He'd been gone for much longer than he'd promised, he didn't have any food, and he was bringing back another troll. Brilliant. He was dead.

"I'm Meulin," the oliveblood offered, fingers tightening in his dark hair.

"Kankri," he replied. Her name fit her; she was very similar to a meowbeast.

She purred and then asked, "Where are we going?"

"We're going to see my . . . companion." Normal trolls didn't have mothers, and he didn't quite trust Meulin with the knowledge of his troll custodian yet. She tensed, and he hastily added, "She's nice."

Meulin relaxed and nodded. Soon they got to Kankri's and his mother's current cave, which was both larger than their last one and drier. A fire crackled just outside, and the Dolorosa leaped to her feet when she heard his footsteps.

Her eyes widened when she saw him and she rushed towards him. Meulin hissed, and her grip tightened.

The Dolorosa stopped and didn't move, understanding immediately. Her jade eyes searched his black ones questioningly, and he tried to tell her what had happened through his gaze. It obviously didn't work, because her frown merely deepened.

In the voice she used when he was scared or hurt, the Dolorosa said to Meulin, "You're safe here. I won't hurt you." Kankri had learned a long time ago that there was something special about his mother's voice. Later he would realize that it wasn't only her tone. It was simply the fact that she always spoke the truth. Because she didn't know what it was to lie, she never had to think about her tone or her words. It was all natural.

Meulin relaxed, and Kankri let her slip down. The oliveblood sat on the floor, shoulders hunched forwards.

As the Dolorosa created a splint for her leg, softly explaining what she was doing so as to not cause alarm, Kankri sat next to Meulin, talking to his mother all the while. "She fell down the waterfall. I'm pretty sure she didn't hit her head, and I didn't get hurt. I jumped in to pull her out because I knew you'd get mad at me if I let her wash away without doing anything. The water was very cold. I lost all the berries I'd gathered, too. Sorry."

She didn't reply, although she nodded. To Meulin, she said, "This is going to hurt a little bit." She set to work setting and splinting the younger troll's leg, working deftly and with murmured reassurances.

As soon as she was done, Kankri leaped to his feet, about to go see if they had any food. The Dolorosa's arm shot out and her fingers wrapped around his wrist. She twisted sharply upwards and he yelped. She somehow always knew where he was hurt, and he didn't know if that was because she was a rainbow drinker or because she was his mother.

She glared at him when she saw the cut, but his eyes flashed warningly to Meulin. The Dolorosa's eyes cleared instantly and she said, "Go and wrap that up, dear." She turned to attend to Meulin, asking her if she was hungry and telling her she was safe.

Kankri darted outside of Meulin's field of vision to bandage the cut and winced upon seeing the candy red blood that stained his shirt. He sighed. This had been one of his favorites too. He shrugged off the shirt and hastily grabbed a new one. When he returned, Meulin was lying fast asleep and the Dolorosa was boiling water. He sat down opposite the fire and she fixed her jade eyes on him. His cheeks flushed bright red.

"Explain," she said shortly. Her tone was firm, but she wasn't angry.

"I did!" he protested. She raised her eyebrows and he hastily added, "buuuuut I'll do it better now."

He was pleased when her lips twitched and she nodded. Relaxing, Kankri launched into the tale of how he'd found Meulin.

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