It was a long sit in where Danny met everyone. Karkat was the smallest of the trolls present. Apparently, something had gone wrong and several of their friends had died. Danny felt a quick sharp pain pull at his heart. Like a snapping guitar string. These kids were pre-teens. What cruel fate saw it fit to have them fighting, essentially, a war? He closed his eyes taking in a sharp breath as the kids and trolls told him of their journey through a strange game that fostered destruction but ultimately leads to creation. Danny wasn't sure the pay off was worth it. Then again, if the world was fated to be destroyed anyway, maybe they were the lucky ones.
Then there was Terezi. She had sharp horns and a shark-toothed smile. She didn't hide the fact that she was blind. Almost bragging about it. It was kind of a relief to know why she had sniffed him when she walked in. Though, he still wasn't sure why she had giggled her face scrunching up slightly. "Oooh, sour apple. Got a little bite new boy?"
Danny just scratched the back of his neck unsure of how to respond to that one. Watching as she leaned up against the couch above Dave.
Then there was Kanaya. She was tall thin and elegant and slightly paler than the other trolls. Her demeanor was calm but also detached. She'd quietly taken a seat next to Dave as Rose sat on the armrest next to her. He wasn't sure how he felt about her yet but at least she was listening and not flat out judging him. At least not openly.
Vriska on the other hand. Danny sighed as the pirate looking girl glared at him from where she leaned against the wall behind the circle of sofas. It was clear she didn't trust him one bit. Still Rose explained her reasoning. The need for aid. Danny nodded as she spoke. These kids did need help and he could do that.
There were two other trolls sitting on the sofa on the middle edge of the half circle. He could hear them whispering but they'd yet to engage in the conversation. One of them, who Karkat had introduced as Sollux, had mismatched black and white shoes and a Gemini symbol on his shirt. Twin horns peaked through his messy black hair.
The one Kanaya introduced as Aradia was a troll with ram-like horns who had a mischievous smile and was wearing what Danny could only describe as red pajamas. On her back, she had vibrant wings that glittered as she moved.
As Danny tried to keep up with the conversations and faces he took note of the other human who had joined them. A girl with gapped teeth similar to johns. Her long hair was covered by the hood of her own pajama-like outfit. Which sported doggy ears. Danny tried not to stare as her ears twitched slightly. She'd been introduced as Jade, John's ecto sister apparently. This was all really confusing and Danny was starting to get a headache.
He sighed glancing over to the small group of three strange creatures called sprites. He couldn't forget about them. There was an old lady going by NannaSprite; a boy with wings who was basically Dave going by DaveSprite; and a cat with… tentacles? Who was named Jaspersprite. They looked ghost-like but that was about it. They caused a tickle in the back of his through as the cold of his ghost sense barely reacted to them. Other than floating he hadn't seen any of them use any powers… but they were just talking so there would be no need to.
He quietly decided to file them under sub ghost in their own category called Sprites. At least in his head anyway. It wasn't like he was going to pull out a PDA and update his ghost files immediately. His fingers twitched. He'd wait till after the conversation.
He'd probably use the device to make a file for the kids and trolls too. There were just so many of them.
"So what exactly are you?" DaveSprite said floating closer. The other two sprites stayed back by another door a good distance away. It seemed like NannaSprite was trying to calm JasperSprite down for some reason.
"Ask away. He won't answer." Dave scoffed crossing his arms.
DaveSprite hummed crossing his arms. It wasn't angry or irritated like Dave it was more like he was analyzing Danny. "Okay. Let me ask another way. Are you dangerous?" It seemed DaveSprite was only determining his threat level.
"Well…" Danny hesitated, looking around the room, John was playing with the end of his hood not really paying attention. Rose and Kanaya were practically sitting on each other's laps waiting patiently. Vriska was still glaring and Terezi was grinning like a mad woman. Jade was smiling encouragingly. Feeling overwhelmed by all the attention Danny felt slightly relieved to see Karkat had his head resting on his palm as he glared at nothing in particular. Danny couldn't tell if he was listening anymore or not. Finally, he took a deep breath. "Am I dangerous… Yes. But not to you!" He added quickly as he saw a downturn of Dave's mouth and felt a slight tension rise in the air. "I am kinda terrified to find out what would happen if I upset Rose or the Beast from the Outer- er I mean Furthest Ring."
"So you're like Rose's butler." DaveSprite smirked, informing rather than asking.
Danny shrugged. "Sure if you wanna think of it like that. Only I don't usually serve tea. I've traditionally only served a hearty plate of whoop ass."
The feathered being chuckled. "We should spar sometime. I think it'd be fun."
Smiling Danny nodded. "I wouldn't mind."
"You want to spar with him?" Dave asked looking confused.
"Yeah. He's strong I can sense it."
Dave frowned. He'd sensed something but he wasn't sure he'd call it strength. It was more like a cold shiver down his spine. It set off all his warning bells. He just didn't trust this Danny Phantom creature.
Vriska bit out a laugh. "Are you kidding this freak looks weaker than all the human's put together!"
Danny glared at the girl for just a fraction of a second his eyes flashing a bright green. The sprites all flinched slightly but Danny calmed himself quickly. There was no point in getting upset over what the girl thought of him.
Dave took a breath, he hadn't missed the flash of irritation in Phantom's eyes. "Weak or not all I want to know is if we can trust you."
Danny smiled looking to him. "Of course! I'm here to help Rose by some sort of contract… I guess… but I'm not limited to that I can help anyone here. Just say the word." He hesitated, continuing to rub his neck nervously. "It's kind of my obsession to help and protect others."
Rose quirked an eyebrow at this and the others seemed confused. "What do you mean obsession?" Kanaya asked.
"I… uh…" Danny laughed. "It's hard to explain? I feel better and more powerful the more I help and protect others… but…" He bit his lip hesitant to continue.
"But?" Jade asked tilting her head slightly.
Danny sighed. "Never mind. I- I don't think we have the level of trust needed for me to share that."
"That's bullshit." Dave said.
DaveSprite scoffed. "No, it isn't. You expect him to tell us all his secrets. We'd have to do the same."
Karkat bit his lip looking down. "I feel like for a first meeting you've been pretty open with us." Terezi said.
"I may have forgotten how to hold back… it has been… a while since I last talked with anyone."
"How long?" John asked with a frown.
"413 years."
There was a long silence after that statement. Danny wondered what they thought of his age. He didn't look too much older than them… but he was. He was much much older… and he'd probably exist long enough to see them all pass of old age… his eyes grew heavy with such thinking. But his bout of melancholy was interrupted by a groan from John. "That number again!?"
Rose giggled. "If nothing else it proves that you very well maybe tied to our session after all."
Danny tilted his head in confusion. Rose waved him off holding her hand to her mouth as she fought back laughter.
"It does seem to be a persistent number within your session. For us trolls, the number that seemed to constantly be around was 612."
Danny just stared at them. It sounded like a crazy conspiracy but after everything else he'd seen and heard it didn't surprise him… though for the game to have affected him in his universe… before he'd even joined… that kind of power… Danny shuttered. He didn't need to think about that.
"Well. You guys are running from this Jack guy and preparing to face off against some big bad guy called Lord English?"
"Yeah." John said. "It's going to be 2 and a half years before we make it to the next session. Where we'll meet with the players there… so like us, I guess? Or no-
"It is supposed to be our guardians, John. Your grandma, my mother, Dave's Bro, Jade's Grandpa."
"Right." John shrugged. "I have a hard time keeping up with all the shenanigans." Then he continued excitedly. "It'll be cool to see Nanna alive. I guess it won't be anything like NannaSprite." John leaned down from his perch on the couch arm and whispered in Danny's ear. "She's half clown right now and I don't know what that did to her personality." Then he straightened and laughed. "Though Dad did always say she was the master of pranks. So maybe it didn't change her all that much."
"What is important now is that we focus on getting there." Kanaya said.
Vriska sighed. "Yes, but what do you plan to do once we get there? It's not like we're any more ready for Lord English now than we were half a year ago."
"True but this time we aren't racing a literal clock this time."
"That we know of." Vriska mumbled.
John gave the troll a soft smile. "Come on Vriska. Don't worry. We're a team. It'll all work out."
The troll scoffed but a small smile played at her lips as she looked away. Karkat scoffed frowning at the wall. "I guess that's one way of looking at it."
"Oh and like you have any better ideas oh gracious leader!"
Danny watched as Karat's fist balled. Then the troll took a deep breath and stood. "I'm not the leader anymore Vriska. Besides… we all know how shit my ideas always turn out. Why don't you guys go have a little pow-wow and vote with the stupid humans on what we should do? Because I'm tired of fucking up! You want to get us all killed when we get there? Be my guest but don't go fucking blaming me because you just want to run in on blind faith!" With that he stocked out of the room.
"Karkat! Hey, wait-
"Just let him go, John." Vriska said. "He want's to mope around for the next few years let him.
"That's not fair Vriska and you know it." Aradia scolded.
"Oh, what, because he can't handle a few people dying I'm the bad guy? I killed lodes of trolls just to feed my lusus!"
"They weren't your friends though!" Kanaya snapped. "Karkat may not have killed any of us but he was our leader- when we fell apart- it hit him hard."
"That wasn't his fault though!" Vriska growled. "Gamzee is a crazy fuck and Eridan wasn't much better!"
"And you?" Terezi asked a deep frown on her face.
"I…" Vriska went silent. "You know what I don't have to put up with this shit. I'm out of here."
"Vriska!" John floated up into the air surprising Danny as he literally flew after the girl.
Rose sighed. "Sometimes I feel like this asteroid runs on drama."
Danny hummed. Feeling his energy running low. He'd forgotten what that felt like. In the Ghost Zone he just absorbed the energy around him… Guess it was back to eating and sleeping like a normal person. He snorted at the idea.
"What's so funny?" Rose asked not missing how he seemed amused.
"Nothing related to what's going on… I just realized it's been a long time since I've been in the living world… I'm going to need to power down and sleep- and eat." He chuckled. "I wonder if I even remember how."
The girl blinked. Ignoring the clear hint as to where he came from she decided to bypass it. "Well if you need sleep there are plenty of rooms or you can crash on one of the piles… the troll's seam fond of sleeping in that manner although they all agree that sleeping in slime is more comfortable. Unfortunately for them, we're all out of slime."
Danny frowned confused. "Okay…"
"As for food, we have a few selections we can create for you. Just let us know or if you have anything in you SYLLADEX you'd prefer…"
Danny's head tilted to the side. "Sy-la-dex?" Danny sounded out the word. "Um…?"
"Maybe he doesn't have one… does Danny even count as a player? He's probably filed closer to a consort." Jade pipped in.
Rose frowned. "Ah, you're right… I hadn't thought of that."
"Or because he comes from another universe it seems he just need's to become aware of the rules." Kanaya suggested moving her hands in a similar fashion a book fell from the air and landed softly in her hands. "This may be a good starting point it's something I found while snooping around and I have no real need for it. I think it actually might belong to Karkat."
Danny took the offered book and looked down at the title. He snorted razing a brow. "SYLLADEX Basic's for Assholes?"
"Well, he is an asshole." Jade said crossing her arms.
"Just read it." Rose said. "I'll go get some food."
Danny sighed and let go of his ghost form. The old familiar rings appearing around his waist. "Sounds good." He smiled as he headed out of the room in search of a quiet place to read.
Jade blinked. "What… what was that?"
"I don't know." Dave said his voice stilted with shock.
"Did he just become human?" Kanaya asked.
Rose just stared after the retreating figure shocked. What had she really summoned?
Authors Notes:
Long time no see... Sorry I've been kind of lurking instead of actually contributing... I had thought I was getting better... and I am... but sometimes day's and weeks pass and I barely notice... I feel better... but I'm still not okay... I think I'm getting there though... So um, thank you for reading... I hope you enjoyed this... I know it was kinda... not much... and I was trying to avoid doing an info dump because most people I imagine reading this will know what they are in for and those who don't can get exposed to it slowly or check out Homestuck themselves... because I'm not writing a synopsis here... it would take way too long. That being said if you do have questions I'm willing to answer them in comment form. :)
Anyway... thank you again for reading and for your patience...
