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Homestuck Ladyfest Exchange 2011
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2011-12-28
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1,624
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1/1
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Storytelling

Summary:

She asked about the Ancestors, yes. But she didn't expect the story to be so tragic.

Notes:

asdfghhj is it obvious that this is my first HS fanfic? Because it sure looks really obvious. This was a case of having a great idea and then forgetting it then remembering it and asdjksndjf dkgb. Yeah, pretty much.

I actually combined three of the four prompts, but I only took bits and bobs. I hope that it's okay!

Work Text:

"So... What were the ancestors like?"  

The game of Sburb had passed not long ago and the trolls and humans were now... Bonding? If you could call it that. It was more like acclimatizing one's self to the current situation. Trolls and humans were walking about, explaining cultural differences and I'm sorry Karkat, but buckets aren't as pornographic on Earth so you should get a grip jeez!!!! 

Nobody had seen Rose as of late. They could only assume that she was with Kanaya. Everyone saw John hanging around Karkat, but those weren't really surprises, to be honest. Jade with Nepeta, though? Now that took everybody by surprise. Yes, Nepeta's hat and horns looked like cat ears and yes, Jade was now a dogtierextraordinaire but really, it wasn't something that everyone expected to just... click.  

"Nepeta?" Jade looked up at the previously empty wall, it now a massive mural of... what were they called again, ships? Her left ear twitched. "What were the ancestors like?" The feline-like troll looked back at the human, gave a thoughtful look then sat on the floor. Jade sat down as well and the other began,  

"So, once apaws a time..."

--

Rose was in what they were using as a library, for the time being. It wasn't anything like what she was used to, really- there weren't books upon books, nor were there stacks of paper abound. However, there were some fine pieces of literature in both regular English and Alternian. It was all that remained, to be honest. In her hands was a book that could be likened to Lovecraftian literature, though it wasn't quite. 

"Rose? Rose! Rose, where are you...?"

She looks up from her book with a bit of a grumble. "To what do I owe the honour?" From her regular speech pattern, it suddenly began slur. 

"Rose, Nepeta just told me the most AMAZING story! All about the trolls' ancestors and... it was just amazing!"

And in reply, she quirked her eyebrow. As if to say, 'I wasn't stopping you from telling me about this tremendously amazing story. Please, continue.' with the most sarcastic tone imaginable. 

Having been around Rose for a long period of time, Jade knew the signs. "Jeez, Rose. Alright, alright, I'll tell you!" So she flopped down and began. 

"So a long, long long... Long long long long LONG time ago, right? There were these trolls, right..."

-- 

"Wow! So... So... there was an ancestor called the Disciple?" Jade gasped.

"Mmhm!" She nods. "The Diciple, as a wriggler, was as cute as could be- with fluffy hair--" She ruffled her own hair to mimic. "-- and long, pointy-pointy horns!" 

"Really?" Jade's eyes widened in excitement. "So tell me more, tell me more!"

"Well..."

--

Jade had learned tht as it turns out, aftereffects of certain things can remain. Like, for example. Rose. Rose Rose Rose Rose Rose. She had gone... Grimdark, was it? Previously. Because of those freaky-deaky horrorterror-thingies. Even though her dark aura wasn't around all the time, it still appeared from time to time. And when it does, Rose... Changes. 

"So the Disciple, right!" Jade continued, trying to ignore the nagging feeling. "She was this teeny-tiny thing but had a big heart. She always listened to others before saying her mind, giving everyone a fair chance!" 

Rose grumbled; Jade continued. 

"Growing up, many a troll liked and hated this quality to her. Some found it really cool and some found it really nasty." For emphasis, Jade frowned. 

-- 

"... and that was purrity terrible, as you can tell!" Nepeta sighed. "She wasn't all that bad, but some others just couldn't take it when there was somebody to challenge their opinion."


"It's kinda sad, there are a lot of people like that nowdays, too..." Jade shook her head.

--

Rose nodded and finally put down the book, giving her full attention to her friend's story. Jade smiled at the guesture and continued on. 

"So it wasn't long before some others with the same kind of mindset appeared-- it was pretty magical!!" 

Rose opened her mouth to voice an opinion, but no sound came out. Her green-eyed friend gave a wry smile and put her hand on Rose's as a guesture of support. She smiled back. 

-- 

"There was the Dolorosa; she was really fussy but really loving! She was also really kind to the Disciple, acting like her lusus or something." Nepeta nodded. "See, the Dolorosa was especially special because she introduced someone
purrty great to the Diciple."

"Oh? And who was that?"

--

"So the Dolorosa-lady introduced the Disciple to...." There was an awkward pause. "Too... Get ready for it..."

Rose grunted, audibly irritated. As if saying, 'Get it over with!'

Jade sighed. "You've got to be more patient, Rose! Jeez... Anyway, it was..."

-- 

"The Sufferer!" Nepeta giggled. "But they didn't have much in common at first. In fact, she thought he was really annoying!"

"Really?" Jade chuckled. "That seems hard to imagine."

"No, they really didn't match up very well. Who would've thought that they would wind up as the First Ship!"

Jade gasped. "Hey, spoiler alert!"

"My apawlogies!" 

--  

Rose was how hunched over; her hood was covering half her face rather than only her eyes. She growled and her voice was slurring; she couldn't even form proper words. The darn aura was beginning to slowly return, it currently a shade of pale grey. 

Jade was panicking; she needed to remain calm. If she shrieked of showed her panic in the slightest of ways, Rose's grimdark side could return. And someone grimdark and godtier at the same time? Oh.
Oh God. 

"So, uh... You see, right..." Jade's hands began to flail. "The Sufferer and Disciple didn't really like each other at first- in fact, they would argue and... Er... Stuff! But eventually, they realized that..."

-- 

"--They thought the same! They had a similar way of thinking, but the Sufferer... Oh, he had some ideas. And that changed everything!"

"It did? Like how?"

"Well... The Sufferer thought of things a lot differently. He wanted to reshape the way everybody thought because it was right! The Disciple thought his way of thinking was the right way, too. Even the Dolorosa!"

"Whoa..."

"Her ear was always opurrn to him. Whatever he said, she would listen. They were insepurrable! In time, the Disciple..." Nepeta had begun to scribble on the wall. Beneath the picture of herself and Karkat, two figures began to form. After that picture was finished, she began to draw a large red heart above them. 

Nepeta smiled, "The Disciple opened her heart to him and they had a romance that was bigger than any of the four quadrants! It really changed everything!"

--

Rose's aura began to fade. Intruiged, her voice stopped slurring. She sat upright, hood positioned properly once again. Jade sighed audiably. In relief, it can be assumed.

"But then..." Jade's wry smile began to form a frown. "The unimaginable happened. It was really bad. Really, really bad."

--

"Yes, it was bad to the sense of extreme purrportions." Nepeta cleared her throat. 

-- 


Her wild hair was coated in a layer of dirt, tears were streaked down her face. A circle of other trolls surrounded them, some laughing, some faceless and blank. It was just a moment before that she, she had been taken away from her. Not only from her, from the both of them. 

Oh, she had fought. She fought for all three of them. But what had that done for him? He was in chains, the other was sold away and she... She was in her current predicament. 

"Kill her," they cried. "Kill them both!" The crowd screeched in excitement. "Excecution, excecution!"

In front of them all, she ran up towards him. They exchanged words, too quiet for anyone else to hear. Who knows what they said? Nobody really does. It simply ended in tears; she clung to him and held him close, but the E%ecutioner... He pried her away. She shrieked and cried and clawed him, but he tore her away and threw her to the ground. 

There was a moment of silence but then- the arrow left the bow. 

Nobody could even hear her scream over the crowd's uproar. 

--

"That's... That's terrible.." Jade's eyes watered. "They killed him, right in front of her?"

"Yes." Nepeta's voice was heavy. She didn't look Jade in the eye, but she continued the story anyway. 

-- 

"So the Disciple saw his body go limp and everything!" Her voice was raised. It was clear how emotional she was getting about this. Rose remained partially emotionless, but the corners of her mouth tugged down ever so slightly. 

"Yeah... But then, something amazing happened."

-- 

"Kill her!" The crowd roared. "Kill her!"

She pushed her hair aside and looked up, eyes pleading. They were wild and scared, on the verge of giving up, almost begging the E%ecutioner to kill her anyway, so that she may reunite with the Sufferer in hopefully, another life. 

But he had other plans.

She soon left the crowd in silence, leggings in hand. 

-- 

"So... She lived." Nepeta's voice was quiet. "She lived for a very long time, painting the Sufferer's messages onto the walls of a cave until she... She died." 

"...I see." Jade looked away and wiped her eyes. "That's... That's an amazing story."

"Isn't it?" The troll's fingers traced the drawing of herself and fellow troll. 

-- 

Rose's dark aura completely faded away. She sat up straight and sighed. How... How depressing. 

"It was a great story, though." Jade muttered. "Can't deny that."

-- 

Elsewhere, she tugs at her hat and looks at her shipping wall; looks at the picture of herself and... him. 

Then, she takes her claws and stratches said picture until it becomes nothing.