OKAY I HAVEN'T DONE AN A/N SINCE MIDDLE SCHOOL BUT I HAVE TO CONFESS THAT I JUST READ THE FIRST BOOK AND I HAD NO IDEA THE LUSUS-SEARCHING EVENT WAS ACTUALLY IN THE BOOK SO YEAH HAHA LOL

"Why the hell did you punch me?" Mindfang demanded. I knew this was going to be good. Justice had been done, after all, by the one who had been a victim to the perpetrator.

"You very well know why," Redglare snarled. Karkat had caught up to me and was hanging out watching the show.

"After I came all this way, this is what I get," Mindfang muttered as she got to her feet, dusting herself off. She cracked her neck and drew her sword, holding it out to the enemy. I wanted to cheer but then I remembered that Redglare platonically hated Mindfang. I stole a cautious sniff to Karkat, who just stood there, blood from his face withdrawn. "Draw your sword, then."

"I need no such thing to fight you off," Redglare replied.

"Don't mock me!" Mindfang shouted, charging my ancestor.

While this was happening, I heard the voices of my peers commentating the brawl. I heard the word "crazy" and "skills" escape their lips and felt proud. But enough about that! I need to get them to not kill each other in order to save the lusi!

I literally couldn't believe what I was watching. Two trolls, one presumed dead and the other presumed imprisoned for grand theft, in a duel to the death. I don't know what happened with Redglare and Mindfang, but it must have been bad if the platonic hatred is this bad. Mindfang went for a diagonal slash but Redglare avoided it, prodding the pirate in the back with a staff. Mindfang attempted a few more hits rapid fire, but Redglare deflected them all with her staff. This had to be the coolest thing I had ever seen.

"I'm still mad at you for bringing her," Terezi said.

"We were desperate," I said, defending myself.

"You were desperate," she retorted.

"Fine. I was desperate. It changes nothing. She's here, we're here, can we go home yet?"

"I'm trying to get her to help us! It was working until Mindfang showed up…" She looked disappointed. Then her face changed to devious. "But I'll find a way." She turned to me. "Isn't that what you always say?"

"I work with what I have, I don't just find a way around it…" I felt my face flush unnecessarily. She is the only troll besides Kanaya and Dolorosa who actually remembers shit about me. I shook it off. "So, now what?"

She sighed. "Get them to stop, first. I can't talk to them while they're like this and I can't face off both of them at once, so…" She nudged me. Great.

"Let's go get ourselves killed, by all means," I muttered.

I decided to block Redglare. I told Karkat this and he sighed with the exasperation of a thousand lifetimes. That left him to block Mindfang. I nodded to him and we drew out our weapons.

I sniffed the air for sweat and determined which one was Redglare. Karkat and I had to time this perfectly. Mindfang and Redglare charged at each other this time, and I decided that this was as good a time as any. I nodded to Karkat. He grunted in return.

Right before their weapons made contact, we blocked the blows, my cane blocking the staff and the sickle blocking the sword.

"Get out of the way!" Mindfang growled.

"What are you doing, Terezi?" Redglare asked with a hint of irritation. I'd know that tone anywhere.

"It's no use fighting! We came with a purpose and we have to come up with a plan!" Terezi said. She's not very good at the gray quadrant, and it shows. I glanced at Kanaya, who stood from afar, wishing she would at least come help us.

Mindfang took that opportunity to snatch my sickle from my hands and fling it into a nearby tree. Fucking hell. I say the first thing that pops into my head. "Shoosh…" All Mindfang did was look at me strangely. She lets her guard down by maybe a millimeter, which is enough, because Redglare then began to speak.

"I told you, Terezi, I need to stay for a few generations longer to ensure the survival of—"

"Coward!" I yelled. Redglare lowered her staff and I my cane. I wasn't sure if I meant it, but I'll find out later. "Lusi are being nabbed all over and villages are being burned to the ground for those who don't comply to give theirs up! I feel the same about ensuring the survival, but not when the lives of innocent lusi are at stake! Who knows what the Grand Highblood is doing to them!" I really want my passionate outburst to work, because this is the only plan I have right now. The worst part is that I'll never know if it worked unless there's a battle and she never shows up. It's a chance I have to take.

"If I could help, I would," Redglare replied. "I just feel that I am needed here in the long term. I hope you understand." I smelled her black lips curve into a reassuring smile. "Besides, even though you were born blind, I am proud to see that you have accomplished more than I possibly could have when I was your age."

"Terezi, she appears to be adamant," mom said. I heard her approach and settle down behind me. Where was she all this time? It doesn't matter. If Redglare doesn't want to help, then it's up to us kids to do it. The nagging question of what she cared about at her age plagued me, though.

"What could you have possibly cared about more than the fate of a lusus that isn't your own?" I asked spitefully. Karkat put a hand on my arm, but didn't say anything.

Her expression turned hard. "I didn't care about what anyone did or didn't do when I was seven sweeps old. As a matter of fact, I raised myself, cared for myself, and didn't rely on anyone but myself. It wasn't until the lusus-searching event when I found my lusus, and…" She paused, then then exhaled sharply. "Like you, I found a matesprit. Then he left to fulfill a promise and I never saw him again. We were young. I withdrew again, not even trusting my own lusus. It wasn't until I left the village when I had no choice but to trust her when I discovered that dragons were worth saving. It only took sixty sweeps." Firefleet came then, overshadowing the five of us. Redglare stroked her thick neck. "Only a few more generations should do it." She turned to me solemnly. "I'm sorry, Terezi, but this isn't just for myself or my lusus. It's for all dragon lusi."

Well, shit. "Fine." I forced out weakly. How embarrassing. "If you won't help, then I'll just do it myself." I turned away from her. I respect her ideals, but the situation outside this glorious haven for all dragonfolk just made for bad timing and in my opinion, justifiable anger. "Come on, Karkat." I gripped my cane tightly and pushed past Mindfang to get to the incubation chamber. That's where the others came out from, so there must be a way out through there, right? "Let's go."

That was a complete waste of time. Terezi was probably thinking it. Personally, I'm glad she's in one piece, but her blood pusher might not be. It might be shattered like a broken water receptacle, but she's alive and that's all that matters to me.

"I miss my lusus!" cried Nepeta suddenly. I didn't notice her until now. It looked like she was playing with some dragon babies and they were surrounding her. It looked like they were licking her, wagging their tails and flapping their tiny, useless wings. Gross.

Equius came over to help her up. Her cheeks were stained green with tears and her eyes bloodshot. She clung to her moirail like a clawed marsupial lusis. He gently patted her back while she wailed about Pounce De Leon. Even for me, the scene was hard to fucking watch.

I glanced back to Redglare, who just stared ruefully at the shoosh-pappery.

It wasn't until everyone got back to the ship and set sail when Terezi and Mom took to the skies. After an hour, she called to me. She picked me up from the deck, which I was glad for, because I didn't get over my seasickness just because I went on one journey via boat.

"I'm sorry, Karkat," she said quietly. "I didn't mean to worry you. It was my fault we split up."

"Don't worry about it," I said, patting her back jovially. "Besides, you found your ancestor, didn't you? That's got to count for something."

She chuckled awkwardly. "Amongst other disturbing histories." I blinked. "I'll tell you later."

I'm not even going to think about prying.

"What now?" She looked at me with her scarlet eyes so worried, it made me hesitate. Even through the goggles she wore to protect her eyes, her expression produced a pang in my chest.

"We return to the island first, I guess," I suggested, "Regroup. Maybe Eridan and Feferi did some actual investigating. Hell if they did, they probably have better news than we do. We'll come up with something. We can do this." I put an arm around her shoulder.

She smiled. Then grinned. "Glad to see you're getting over your trust issues."

And the moment is gone.

Talking with Karkat made me feel so much better. It's nice to have someone believe in you once in a while. As soon as we landed at the village docks, everyone disembarked. The whole trip was altercation-free and we were relieved to be back home. Mom was oddly silent the entire trip.

"I have the distinct feeling that the journey was utterly silent," she said.

"Well, I'm just glad we made it home okay," I said out loud.

Mom just growled lowly.

I rubbed the scales on her neck, trying to reassure her. Mom shuddered.

"Do that again," mom quietly demanded.

"One thing I learned from my ancestor that actually turns dragons into piles of goopy gelatin," I giggled.

"Stop."

"Okay."

"You know what I meant."

"Hey guys!" Feferi chirped suddenly. She was waving her entire arm, making her shawl flow wildly in the wind.

"What did you find out?" Karkat asked.

"Uh… Whale…"

"A whale?"

"No, Karcrab!" She puffed her dark lips out. Then she sighed exasperatedly. "We didn't find out what we were looking for."

"We glubbed up," Eridan piped up, seemingly out of nowhere. He had hidden behind Feferi.

"What do you mean 'We glubbed up,' fishface?" Karkat said angrily.

"I mean Fef said we had dragons and then I forgot to bring my fuckin' gun and they got away!"

"I'm sorry, Karkat," Feferi apologized.

"Wait," I interjected. I powerwalked to the highbloods. "Dragons? Like the plural form?" How could they possibly know that?

They didn't answer. Well, maybe they didn't know exactly. But that didn't change the fact that the elusive enemy now thought we had multiple dragons, when in reality, we only had one. Mine. Mom.

"Told who?!"

"There was this handsome Viking with orange wings," Feferi mused. She then sighed contentedly.

"I'm going to throttle you," Karkat grumbled.

"Don't you fuckin' dare," Eridan said, getting between Feferi and Karkat.

"Stop it!" I shouted. Feferi shouldn't still be frozen in place, thinking about the criminal who stole Tinkerbull and possibly Rammom, Pounce, and Arthour as well.

"Great!" Karkat said, flinging his arms in the air. "I'm going to bash my thinkpan for a few hours. Do not disturb me. "

"They hawe a Gl'Bgolyb," Eridan said. My blood pusher nearly stopped. That got Karkat's attention.

"What does that mean?" Karkat asked.

"It means that the empress has fallen," Feferi muttered.

"How do you know? Did they tell you? Maybe they just found one."

Feferi shook her head. "Only royal fuchsia blood can convince them to surface," she explained, "And they mainly lay deep in the ocean, past tolerable hospitable regions. They're so deep, the gravity of the water can crush solid steel. I was lucky when I found mine, even at such a young age. As far as I know, I'm the only one besides the empress who has a Gl'bgolyb as a lusus."

I remember oral training taught us that there weren't many fuchsiabloods that have Gl'bgolybs, since they only choose worthy troll Vikings who have the potential to rule. It's actually a big deal.

"Well that triples my thinkpan-bashing," Karkat comments. "Thanks for the hopeless info. We're officially screwed."

I couldn't help but feel that Karkat was right. Eridan and Feferi trudged away, shuffling their feet. The sun won't rise for a few more hours yet, but I was exhausted beyond belief. I was ready to take a nap.

Mom suddenly perked her head up. "RUN!" she roared.

That's when I heard the explosion of a boulder hitting Mindfang's ship. Wood flew everywhere, and Mom grabbed me and Karkat, shielding us from it. She flew straight forward, then ducked behind the small building that stored supplies for the ships that came and went between villages.

"It's an ambush!" Mom said.

"A what?!" Karkat yelled.

"They were following us!" I said. Of course! Mom was right, the seas were too quiet.

"My ship!" Mindfang shrieked. "Not again!"