Rueful Quadrant

by Aka_Chibi

Summary:

The cat may be a skilled huntress, but even it can be outmatched.

Chapter 1

He stared her down, like a devilish predator about to snap the neck of his prey and devour it mercilessly. It’s an ironic twist, considering how she was the one who hunted the most and had the greatest experience.

She glared at him with strong hatred, yet it was easy to see the fear in her grey eyes. He looked back at her with a humored grin as if this was all a game; that killing her precious moirail is no different then striking down a imp from his planet.

That killing her will be no different either.

His cracked lips opened, some indigo blood that dried open his skin flaked off, and he softly uttered out a word. “Here kitty kitty kitty…” Suddenly, he shouted as he was determined to let the whole heavens hear his voice. “GET OVER HERE BEFORE I MOTHERFUCKING KILL YOU.”

She hissed, trying to sound intimating as possible. “No! Stay away from me!” She shrieked as she tried to crawl away awkwardly, trying not to use her broken wrist.

He laughed with delight as he strolled up to her, making her tremble enough to fall. She whimpered as tears gathered up in her eyes, and attempted to shield her face with an arm.

It did little help.

He struck her stomach with a club, forceful enough to knock her some feet away. She yelled with pain, some olive colored blood shot from her mouth. He roared with laughter as he paced over to her and struck her once more, trying to hit her further away like a golf ball.

After that he just went with beating her with both clubs.

Repeatedly, he walloped and whacked at her body. Her screams brought more and more pleasure in him, and so he hits with increasing strength.

Then she stops screaming no matter how many times he struck her.

He frowned as stopped attacking her, now observing the motionless body that laid on the ground before him. She was on her side in fetal position, the bloody arm that was protecting her head drooped away from her bruised face, exposing her closed eyes. Her precious blood was making a puddle around her body, big and thick enough that he could see his reflection in it.

He saw a sickly troll, a messy hair that was more messy than usual. His carefully applied face makeup was smeared and ruined, with four deep cuts on his face. Seeping from these cuts was his indigo blood, where most of it dried up on his skin and was flaking from his movement.

He looked at once more before using his club to push her body onto her back. He examined her body as if he had never seen her in his life before.

She was a short troll, looking ever so small compared to the large trench coat she was always wearing. Her bruised face was round and chubby, adding onto her young appearance. Her hair was as messy as his own, but just more neater -perhaps the work of her picky moirail. It was mostly hidden by her blue fuzzy hat, with buttons to add on a catty look.

He frowned, feeling a bit strange. Was it guilt? That he had killed the troll seemed to be the most youngest of them all? Or was it pity?

He shook his head and reached out to brush her shirt up to her stomach, wanting to see what she was hiding under the stained black fabric. She had a nicely formed abdominals, though maybe not as well as her moirail. Feeling around her arms, he found that she some noticeable muscles even if he found some broken bones and swelling of the skin. No doubt that hunting for her food paid off.

Smiling, he seemed to have forgotten the strange feeling he had earlier. Instead, he was now humored. How strange it was that she, a skilled huntress, could not even scratch some skin off of him. It was as if he had to hurt himself for her… which he ended up doing anyway.

With a laugh he kicked her body that caused her to roll onto her stomach, faced down to the ground. He yanked the hat off of her head and wore it himself, since it was a pretty sweet hat anyway.

On his way out of the area, he pick up her fallen moirail’s cracked shades and wore it too.

Chapter 2

It was cold at first.

It was like she could feel all of the warmth quickly draining from her body. Nepeta had the urge to shiver and to hug herself tightly, but she just couldn’t. She was much too numb… It was if the only thing she could do is just drift about in this empty space.

Sure, it was lonely at first, but she eventually gotten used to it. The coldness didn’t seem to bother her anymore; it was actually starting to turn more warmer and comfortable. This was disturbing.

Smiling, Nepeta Leijon looked around in this dark void as she waited. She knew her time had come, and soon she will inside her dream bubble.

She sighed with content. “I can’t wait…” She started at first before she paused.

Something didn’t seem right in her mind.

It was a sign of displeasure.

It’s too soon.

She blinked, unsure of what to make of this… this… feeling?

You can’t die now. Your time hasn’t come yet.

This peaceful void that surround her suddenly felt more hostile. She curled her lips over her fangs, baring her teeth as she growled with newfound rage. Her toes dug hard into the ground, her fingers wrapped into fists, as if this will stop her from harming whatever has upset her.

He killed your best friend; the one person that understood you. The one who wants to protect you no matter what the danger.

With growing rage, she could feel some grief creep up inside her. Olive colored tears seeped into her eyes, threatening to spill with

He needs to be punished.

The small sorrowful feeling quickly vanished, being replaced with another emotion to mix in with her outrage; lust for revenge.

She wanted to kill that fucker who crossed her; the one who made her feel so pathetic and weak. How dare he ruin her! To take away her moirail; her soulmate! To take away every chance she had of to accomplish her desires to complete her own personal shipping!

She trusted him, she enjoyed his company even. He was so innocent, and she always thought of him easy to just… break. She could just easily reach out when he was passed out on his horn pile, and rip his throat open with her claws as if he was a creature she had hunted. However, because it wasn’t in her nature to do such a thing to her friends, she didn’t.

What did he do in return? Wallop her in the head with a club.

Nepeta craved badly to just stalk him, watching his every move hungrily as he wondered around about; not knowing what might be lurking in his shadows. She wanted to reach out and stroke him, touch him, feel him when he wasn’t looking, spooking him badly as he turned around and find nothing there.

She wanted to crouch in his very sight, looking for the fear to touched his disgusting messy face and his red eyes. To know that he will be thinking to himself, “Oh fuck” as he turned around to try and run. She wanted to then pounce on his body, knocking him to the ground as she leans her head towards his delicious smelling throat and tear it to pieces.

To taste Gamzee Makara’s salty indigo blood on her tongue and hear him scream and cry.

Nepeta smiled evilly to herself, her eyes shining every so brightly in this void.

As if Fate had decided to give her a second chance, she suddenly felt pain again.

“Oh no…” She cried to herself as she held her head. Pain was not a thing to look to.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no…”

She shut her eyes tight, nails digging into her scalp as terrified tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Oh no, please, I don’t want to feel more pain…”

Suddenly… She was gasping for air as she clawed at the wet floor. Nepeta sobbed to herself as she pressed her bruised forehead to the ground, shaken silly as she felt all of the pain in her body and how terrifyingly cold she felt.

When she looked up, her eyes fell on the body of her moirail: Equius Zahhak. Shivering, she slowly crawled up to the body.

His face was a huge smile with missing tooth. His eyes were opened and wall eyed. His throat was wrapped tightly with a broken arrow string, tight enough to cut into his skin and leak blue blood. Tight enough to suffocate him…

Breaking out another sob, Nepeta touched his face. Her eye brows arched and created creases in her forehead.

“I’ll kill him for you, you silly meowrail…” She said softly in a hoarse , dry voice. “Even if you don’t want me to, I’ll still do it for you… You’re so stubborn with killing the highbloods anyway…”

She smiled.

Chapter 3

His hand was grasped around a hammer. It’s so fucking colorful, like a rainbows of colors to represent every flavor of Faygo he could imagine. It’s a work of beauty, and he was fortunate to find it in a chest he stumbled upon.

No sooner did he held this precious, powerful weapon he stowed it away in his JOKERKIND strife specibus. Gamzee knew it’s a special weapon, and he knew he should save it for something special. Already had he develop a plan in his mind, and he was smiling rather wickedly at the thought of it.

Sure, he was sore all over… Specifically in the place where Kanaya Maryam had kicked him and sent him flying over a cliff. How he managed to have survive the fall with only an aching back will be a mystery to him.

Cracking his knuckles with anticipation, he set off to seek for the others.

Along the way, he found the bodies of his fallen friend: Tavros Nitram. Gamzee stared at the body of his best friend. The one who understood him…

When he first discovered the body of Tavros -broken, cold, and oh my god WHY IS HE BLEEDING SO MUCH- of course Gamzee would be thrown into a huge fit of anger, then remorse.

This innocent troll, this troll who’s been through so much. If being thrown off a cliff, crippled, and then eventually have his leg sawed off right in front of Gamzee’s very eyes didn’t seem to wipe off that beautiful smile off his face for long, then what will? Gamzee admired Tavros, the troll who’s spirit didn’t seem to break or even crack.

Even when he found the dead body, Tavros’s face wasn’t pulled into frown or a pained look. Really, it was more of a surprised look, as if Tavros wasn’t expecting his death to come so quickly.

Gamzee already knew who killed Tavros. It was Vriska Serket, of course. He just knew that it was her.

That troll, the one who had Tavros wrapped around her finger.

That troll, who caused the death and grievance of many trolls with her devious mind. He knew she could even do it by accident.

And it was a moments like this where he wanted to snap her head off of her shoulders. Maybe it was the fact that he always seemed to hide from her for a couple of sweeps and he was finally fed up. Maybe it was the fact that she killed this beautiful soul, who’s lifeless body was in his arms and pressed to his chest as he chocked back tears.

Or maybe it was the fact that he was downright crazy now, bloodthirsty even. He had his taste of killing trolls a little more than an hour ago, and frankly something sparked inside him.

Was it hidden feelings he forced back with soper pies? Or was it natural instincts, sick in every ways?

Gamzee wasn’t sure what the answer was, but looking down at Tavros’s dead body he couldn’t help but feel some sort of pleasure. To see his blood dripping out of the hole in his chest - the hole Gamzee made when he pulled the lance out of the troll’s body before captchaloguing it - and drenching his black shirt, it made Gamzee happy for some reason. He even felt disappointed that he wasn’t the one who killed his troll, even if it was Tavros.

Oh wouldn’t it be so wonderful, to just sit here and marvel at this work of art.

But he knew he couldn’t. Gamzee knew he needed food and nutrition to keep himself alive. He needed to move, to keep himself strong. To keep him alive enough to find more of this art. Still, he knew that he couldn’t simply drag a dead body with him.

A humored smile that pulled at his lips, making some dry indigo blood flake off of his skin, Gamzee tilted Tavros’s head back to expose his neck.

And he tore at it with his sharp teeth, cutting through flesh, muscles, and veins until he fully decapitated the dead troll.

He held the precious treasure between his hands, staring at Tavros’s eyes. Gamzee had the sense to kiss it, to try and bring life into Tavros, but he knew it was a ridiculous idea.

How can you bring back the life of a troll you just beheaded?

Chapter 4

They were all on the roof top… at least the ones who were still alive, that is.

4. Just 4 trolls, were alive as far as Karkat Vantas know. The fact that they were standing right in front of him, moving and breathing, was the only proof that they were alive. Anybody who wasn’t on this roof will be considered dead.

Karkat was sure that Equius Zahhak was dead. The troll never responded to his messages anymore - but then again, Karkat discovered that Kanaya Maryam had Equius’s crack shades all the long. Either way, Karkat was certain that he had just caused Equius’s death.

When he asked Kanaya about the shades, she responded that she had just kicked Gamzee off of a cliff and snagged the shades he was carrying. This added on to Karkat’s suspicion that Equius was dead, and that Gamzee was either dead too or just badly injured.

Tavros was dead - Terezi Pyrope told him. Vriska was dead - her body was right there in front of him! Karkat had witnessed Feferi Peixes’s death, and Kanaya told him that she killed Eridan Ampora. Aradia Megido had exploded a long time ago and was presumed dead.

As for Nepeta? Karkat’s not sure, but he had a hunch that she was dead too.

So all that left so far was Karkat, Terezi, Kanaya, and Sollux Captor. Except now Sollux was blind, and Kanaya is a glowing rainbow drinking.

Just fucking great.

Karkat sighed, as he sat on the ground and pinched the bridge of his nose. How could so much deaths happen in one day? How could things go so wrong in a matter of hours? Karkat obviously pinned this on himself.

Maybe if he had watched Gamzee carefully. Maybe if he had stepped in when Sollux and Eridan were fighting. Maybe if he didn’t tell Equius to do his job…

Karkat heard some foot steps and felt some hands on his shoulders. He didn’t need to look to know who it was.

“Are you moping again?” Terezi asked.

“What the fuck do you think?” Karkat grumbled.

She sat down next to him and took his hand. “Moping isn’t going to help with anything,” She said.

“I know, I know. You don’t have to remind me.”

“Why not? It seems like you keep forgetting,” She chuckled.

“Well, what do you expect?” He hissed with frustration as he squeezed his eyes shut. “Today is a fucking nightmare, and it won’t ever end. There’s only the 4 of us so far, and the matriorb is destroyed.”

He felt her lips lightly touching his cheek, giving him a nice comforting kiss. Karkat also heard some sniffing, which was pretty much expected of Terezi.

“Cheer up, Karkles! We’ll think of a way. There’s no good in being sad in the dark when we can find the light,” Terezi said.

Karkat almost made a smile at her, but he suddenly froze. Terezi was confused at first, and was about to ask what’s wrong before he shushed her.

He was certain that he heard something. It might have been paranoia speaking, but he swore-

There it was!

Terezi’s eyes widen. She heard it too. Karkat’s eyes flickered over to Kanaya and Sollux, and they were standing still too.

They all knew what the sound was. They heard it so often that they were accustomed to it. But now? It was like the loudest sound they have ever heard, and it was terrifying.

It was honking, and it grew louder as the seconds past by.

Karkat and Terezi got up and hurried over to Kanaya and Sollux. It was better to be in a big group. Better protection.

Within moments, Gamzee appeared. He walked slowly, as if he didn’t had a fuck to give to the world. His face, so messy and dirty, had 4 ugly cuts on his face and it appeared that just recently did they decided to heal and form some scabs. His eyes were red, as if being insane changed them from normal golden yellow. But above all, the most terrifying thing to behold was what’s in his hand.

It was the Warhammer of Zillyhoo, in all of it’s rainbowy glory. When it comes to a hammer that’s as big as that, Karkat had a disturbing thought that his head will probably be smashed to bits like a hammer on an anvil.

Gamzee ceased walking when he was only a few feet away from the group. Everybody had their weapon ready, but one of them will fight the crazed troll.

And that was Karkat.

He was tired of running. Running and hiding was what caused most of his friends’ death, in his honest opinion. There were only 4 of them left, and he wanted to protect what he had left. He wanted to protect his best friend, his motherly friend, and his love interest. With a sickle in hand, he was prepared to launch himself after Gamzee when Sollux suddenly asked, “What’s that sound?”

Everybody was quiet. Even Gamzee appeared to be confused, as if this wasn’t a part of his plan. A minute went by when Karkat finally asked Sollux, “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Then he heard it. This time everybody heard it.

It was… purring? It didn’t quite sound like purring; it sounded more hostile. Maybe it was growling, not purring. It was hard to tell, the sound seemed so far away.

But Gamzee instantly recognized it. Karkat watched Gamzee’s face move from surprise to content. Karkat still wasn’t sure what it was until the last moment.

“Oh my gog-” He uttered before suddenly a loud roar could be heard. This time, it was very near them as if the voice had quickly moved from far away to here. The roar sounded so terrifying, like it was a very angry lion about to kill you. As far as Karkat knows, it wasn’t an understatement.

Nepeta suddenly sprang out of the darkness, throwing herself at Gamzee. He seemed to have seen this coming, and blocked his face with his arm as he fell onto the ground from the force of the impact. If he didn’t cover his face with his arm, he would had more cuts on his face. Instead, his arm was being ruthlessly clawed and cut as Nepeta was sitting on him, mad out of her mind. With a free hand, Gamzee smashed Nepeta off of him with the hammer where she rolled onto the ground as a yowling mess. He proceeded to get up and walk over to her, an evil gleam in his eyes.

Everybody else was watching the two fight with shock. Karkat saw that there was now 6 trolls who were alive, not 4 as he had earlier believed. He watched Gamzee grab both of Nepeta hands and pinning it to the ground, watched him press his knee against her side to keep her on the ground, watched him raise his hammer and hearing everybody else yelling while she hisses, did Karkat realize that there will only be 5 trolls alive if he doesn’t do something to stop this fight.

Karkat ran as quickly as he could over to Gamzee, tackling the crazed troll before he could deliver the finishing blow to the troll he held down. He had difficulty trying to hold Gamzee down, but with the help of Sollux who joined his side they were able to restraint Gamzee from getting up and moving. Karkat shooshed Gamzee, papped him too, until Gamzee became quiet and calm for once. Karkat pried the hammer from Gamzee’s hand and decided to confiscate it until Gamzee was trusted again. Fuck, should he even give back the hammer at all?

Karkat turned his head to see how Nepeta was doing, not really surprised to see Kanaya and Terezi holding her down. He was, however, surprised to see her putting up a nasty fight.

Nepeta was trying to claw her way out of Kanaya and Terezi’s grip as she glared at Gamzee with such an intensity that he had to look away. She managed to give the two other trolls some cuts before Karkat went off to confiscate her claws too.

When he pulled one of her claws off, she flinched and hissed at him which was enough to make him freeze. He tried as best as he could to be careful as he pulled the claw off, where he discovered that her wrist was swollen. It was broken. Karkat, now looking at Nepeta as if for the first time in his life, noticed just how bad she looked. Bleeding in some places, broken in others. How could she still put up a fight when she looked like she was about to die?

“Nepeta!” Karkat said to her, trying to catch her attention. She was too busy glowering at Gamzee to notice until Karkat grabbed her chin and tilted her head towards him. “Stop it, Nepeta! You’re going to fucking make yourself worse. How would Equius react to see his moirail so hurt?”

Nepeta finally ceased struggling, and she staring at Karkat so hard that he felt his skin crawl. Her eyes weren’t red like Gamzee, but they were blood shot and wide which give her a wild look. It was quiet for a moment, until Karkat saw tears filling up her eyes.

She mumbled something, so when Karkat asked her to speak up. Nepeta gritted her teeth before talking in a harsh, quiet voice.

“He’s dead.”

Despite the fact that she was crying, her face was pulled into face of pure fury. She looked back at Gamzee, and she was breathing hard as if she had forgotten how to breathe in the first place.

“I’ll kill you…” She said quietly. Then, with a might roar, she screamed “I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!”

Karkat, deeply regretting what he had said, asked Kanaya and Terezi to haul Nepeta back into a room where she can rest up. “I don’t know how the fuck we’re going to calm her down with killing someone, but we have to try or she’ll just kill herself,” He told them before they walked away.

It was just Karkat, Sollux, and Gamzee now, and everything was silent. Gamzee’s arm was bleeding badly, but he didn’t care.

When the two trolls wasn’t staring at him like a wild animal about to snap, he was smiling pleasantly to himself as he thought about Nepeta.

Chapter 5

For the past few minutes, it was just the same thing over and over again.

Terezi and Kanaya had dragged Nepeta into a room where they could try calming her down without the risk of her escaping.

They spent a few minutes bandaging themselves up- the cuts they received from the frantic troll was not very pretty to look at. The spent the next handful of minutes trying to do the same for Nepeta, but it proven to be near impossible.

As if she was a caged lion with a broken limb, she evaded all of their attempts to hold her down. She was restless and refused to simply sat put, no matter how much scalemates Terezi had brought for her to lay on. There was only one thing inside the troll’s mind, and it was to make her escape and then to spill some grape juice. Metaphorically, of course.

But she couldn’t easily do that.

They all got here through the transportalizer, and Kanaya had it strictly guarded. Nepeta was acting more foolhardy than usually, but she had enough sense to stay away from the rainbow drinker with her deadly chainsaw equipped. She knew enough about Eridan’s death to be wary of Kanaya.

So escaping was going to be difficult. Even then, Nepeta still lingered away from the other two trolls.

“Nepeta, will you stop running away already?” Terezi asked, exasperated. “You’re bleeding and I smell olives. Too much olives. That’s not a good sign.”

“And running won’t do you much good either. You need to save your energy, and I don’t think frolicking around like a little grub could be considered energy saving,” Kanaya added on.

Nepeta said nothing. For the past few minutes, she merely sitting in a corner as far away as possible from the two and they decided to just leave her there. Terezi sat on her scalemate pile, chin on her hands as she watched Nepeta eyeing them suspiciously. Sadness easily seeped into her, making her wonder where has the good old Nepeta went; the one who purred and cuddled under their chins. Terezi certainly missed her.

“Nepeta…” She called out to her again, in a soft tone. The wild troll was still staring at her, although it was more like she was still staring at space. Nepeta was still crying -like a small droplet rolling down her cheeks- but her face was blank and still as she was a statue with no feelings. Whether or not she will actually listen, Terezi continued. “I know that you’re feeling some black feelings for Gamzee…”

Suddenly, as if the name snapped her from her mind, Nepeta hissed malevolently as curled her lips over her fangs.

“I … I …” She uttered, as if she had forgotten how to speak and was trying to remember. “I … Want… To Rip… Him…”

Terezi lifted her eye brows at the cat trolls, but continued talking as if Nepeta hadn’t spoken at all. “See look, I’m pretty sure me and Sollux have some black feelings for Gamzee too.”

Nepeta looked at Terezi, and for the first time in a while surprise filled her face instead of fury and hate. “You… you do?”

Terezi nodded her hate. “I don’t know about Sollux, but I just can’t stand here acting as if nothing had happen. He committed so many crimes, Nepeta. Theft, imposter, mentally torturing someone, death threats… Death and attempted murder.” She whispered the last part and watched Nepeta’s chin tremble. “I just want… Punish him, really. I want to deliver justice!”

“Here, I wish to simply auspistice anyone who wants to wring their hands around Gamzee’s neck,” Kanaya admitted. “From what I had heard from this very moment, there’s 3 possibilities so far.”

Nepeta looked at the two, not sure what to make of it. She really did thought she was the only one who felt black for Gamzee, and that everybody else wouldn’t understand why she felt this way and only wanted to block her from her feverish goals. Maybe they didn’t understand, but they were close enough to make her trust them a little bit more. Finally, her face curled up into a distraught expression. All hostile and distrust feelings she had felt now left this room, leaving her with grievance and regret. For the first time within the hour, she was sobbing as thick tears poured out of her eyes. Kanaya and Terezi was finally able to safely come near her, peel off her dirty trench coat and some pieces of clothing, and start wrapping up her wounds. They still need to some how make a cast for her broken bones, but for now they were relieved to help her heal.

Within moments, Nepeta was like a little mummy, being all wrapped up with rolls of bandages. If anything, the only places that wasn’t covered was small parts of her body and her face.

Feeling like she hadn’t slept in a million sweeps, Nepeta wearily crawled up to the scalemate pile and curled up on them with Tailor Cloudfang in one of her arms. Before she could close her eyes and sleep for who knows how many hours, she felt a sudden lurch. At first she thought that the scalemate pile had disperse underneath her, but she noticed that Kanaya and Terezi seemed to have slide a bit; as if the whole room as lurched.

Or perhaps it was more than the whole room…?

Kanaya and Terezi decided to go on ahead and transportalize out of the room to investigate when they assumed that Nepeta had fallen asleep. She was, in fact, not asleep. Curiosity picked at her mind a bit, pushing some of her fatigue away as she got up from the scalemate pile. Remembering that she was not wearing any clothing - not counting the bandages- she simply pulled on her trench coat and tightened it close.

She slowly followed after the two trolls, wincing and cringing multiple times as if she was now aware of her wounds and injuries, with Tailor Cloudfang still in her arm.

Chapter 6

Everybody was on the roof top again, but by the time Nepeta has limped over she found that there were some new acquaintances to be seen.

Floating there as if she hadn’t a care in the world, was Aradia Megido in her new shining glory. Since the last time Nepeta has seen her, Aradia was just this dead, forgotten troll who stood amongst them. She had a difficult time remembering how the lowest blood face looked without a frown upon her red lips; but looking at her now, Nepeta was taken back with surprise by how happy and beautiful Aradia looked when she smiled. It was as if the troll never died in the first place.

For once in her life, Nepeta could see Aradia in some richly dressed clothes instead of her old torn up casual clothes that were meant for lowbloods. With red transparent wings sprouting out of the troll’s back, Nepeta could see that Aradia had ascended to God Tier, and a little part of her felt a little proud of this lowblood.

Near Aradia were these two humans - or, at least, that’s what Nepeta had assumed they were. Trolls had their normal, rough grey skin, while these two had skin like the silkiest pale pink velvet. Nepeta almost felt afraid to touch them, as if a single stroke to these strange creatures’ skins will make them crumple and break apart. Instead of a normal troll’s jet black hair, they had hair of the whitest and brightest pearls.

One was a female, and Nepeta could tell that she was Rose Lalonde. Nepeta could still remember that conversation she had with Rose, asking her if she could speak with her kernelsprite in hopes to fill in that gaping void Nepeta felt when she missed Pounce de Leon badly.

Compared with seeing Rose on screen to seeing her in real life, Nepeta couldn’t bring herself to not gawk at the pretty human like Kanaya was obviously doing; but perhaps with less lust in her eyes. Lips covered in black lipstick with a modest smile, eyes as purple as the freshest lavender that sprang from the ground, not a single strand of hair out of place, Nepeta could easily find Rose to be beautiful in a nice, royal way. Dressed in elegantly orange robes, she was like a golden fortune teller considering the fact that she was the Seer of Light.

Eyes moving over to the other human, Nepeta eagerly observed it.

Dave Strider; the “cool cat” she secretly dubbed. Although she hadn’t spoken to him as much as she wanted to, that didn’t stopped him from impressing her. Or maybe she was just too easily impressed by fascinating new things?

He stood there like a motherfucker that’s too chill to be excited by the fact that he’s meeting some actual aliens, even if Terezi was practically gushing over the fact of how red he was. As the Knight of Time, there was a sense of nobility that surrounded him, even if the one knightly thing about him was his fashionable cape. It was difficult to see past his cool shades, but if she were to look closely she could possibly see his red eyes within his lazy expressionless face.

The humans appeared to have ascended to God Tier as well as Aradia, considering how they weren‘t wearing their usual T-shirts or such. The three boast of unimaginable powers, even if they were all watching the remaining trolls with a friendly look.

Well, at least one of them still had on a friendly face. Dave was as skilled as expressing his feelings like a rock, Rose looked a bit crestfallen, and Aradia looked as if she’s having the time of her life. It took her a few minutes to realize it, but Nepeta noticed how everybody’s eyes were lowered to the ground. Her own eyes following their gazes, she noticed a puddle of blood on the ground.

A yellow, mustard colored blood puddle.

She flinched as she noticed for the first time the body that lay oh-so-close to her feet. It was Sollux, sprawled on the ground as if he was only sleeping. Nepeta knew well enough that he wasn’t, and her evidence was the large amount of blood seeping through his face. Blood that dripped out of his nose, his opened and teethless mouth, and his empty eye sockets that were hidden by his borrowed goggles. He looked oddly peaceful, laying there on the ground, as if he died half awake and surprised.

Nepeta slowly backed away from the corpse, frightened to find another dead body in front of her.

Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no…

Something flickered by Aradia, and it caught Nepeta’s attention as long as everybody’s else.
It was Sollux, floating next to Aradia. Nepeta didn’t know how long he may have been there, floating, but she certainly knew it was long enough. He looked much neater than his dead body, with no blood on his shirt and no borrowed goggles. However, his eyes were black and white.

So, he was just half-dead? She hoped he was - or was it okay to hope that?

Minutes passed by and the next thing Nepeta knew, she was sitting alone while everybody else grouped together some distance away. She would have joined their conversation, especially when she heard the mention of “corpse party”, but she felt much too tired to pay attention. She had a small regret for not going to sleep instead of coming out here; Nepeta could hardly keep herself from nodding off.

But once in a while, when she turned her head towards the group to see what they’re doing, she could see Gamzee staring at her. When she saw him staring at her, a chill would run down her back and her stomach would feel tight and sick. Nepeta would then made a face at him to try and intimidated him, but he would smile humorously at her and return his attention to the group’s conversation.

Oh how he angered her.

Around 10 minutes had passed and they were still talking. Nepeta didn’t know what she was waiting for, but she knew now that it wasn’t going to happen. She got up and left the scene, not interested in anything but sleep.

Perhaps if she still had her strength, she would have been stubborn and refused to leave anybody’s side if Gamzee was in their presence. She didn’t trust him, even if he seemed so calm in everybody else’s eyes. But now she was flat out tired and the thought of sleeping on the comfortable scalemate pile was dreadfully inviting. It was that, or the thought of Gamzee going against three and a half trolls and three God Tiers was very trusting.

So she was back in the room where Kanaya and Terezi kept her, and laid down on the pile. She still kept on her trench coat despite how filthy it has become within the last few hours, as its warmth and familiarity made her feel safe. Eyes closed, she quickly drifted off to sleep.

Of course it was all blank and such. With no Derse to visit, dreaming became more plain and less exciting. It was that, or she didn’t get the chance to indulge in her dreams.

Not long after she slept, Nepeta was lightly shaken awake as something whispered her name. At first she was frightened, but when she opened her eyes she found Terezi’s red eyes staring down at her with concern.

“Thank gog, I was afraid you were goner there…” She breathed with relief as she brushed some hair from Nepeta’s forehead. “I was afraid…”

“Why?” Nepeta asked sleepily as she rubbed her eye. “I’m not that hurt you know… Sleep can’t just kill me like that.”

“No, no, Nepeta,” Terezi said, smiling a bit. “It’s just that…”

Nepeta stared at the other troll. She was curious at first, but as sleep left her body fear crept in.

“Did he do something…?”

“Well… yes,” Terezi admitted. “You see, while we were talking, we didn’t really keep an eye on Gamzee…”

“And?”

“Well, the next thing we knew, he was gone. With Sollux and Vriska.”

Nepeta stared at Terezi, unsure of what to say.

“So… he’s gone?”

“Yes. Kanaya’s trying to find him,” Terezi replied. “With her chainsaw. I just came here because I thought he might have… done something while you were sleeping…”

Nepeta’s eyes widen.

“You don’t mean…?”
“I guess you can say we’re allowed to do some clown hunting,” Terezi joked a bit. “As long as Karkat doesn’t find him first, you know. Moirails before friends, I guess.”

“Huh…” Nepeta breathed, not quite sure how to respond to the news. She laid there in the pile, staring into space as she tried to figure out what Terezi just told her.

As Terezi laid down with her, Nepeta couldn’t help but wonder what she was dreaming about. Normally, she would have dreamt of silly dreams and adventures. This time, she was sure it was something different.

It may have been paranoia, but she swore she felt something touch her cheeks. It may had been the whimsical voice that whispered “sweet dreams while it lasts…” in her sleep.

Chapter 7

It’s been well over a month now, so it wouldn’t hurt to relax a bit… right? Well Terezi doesn’t quite know how to respond to that. It’s been a month since the whole “Gamzee stole some dead bodies and now is missing” incident.

Ever since he went missing, Kanaya immediately went on a “clown hunt” for him. Chainsaw in hand, she didn’t seem to care that just hours ago she had a hole blasted through her stomach. Terezi wasn’t sure how the rainbow drinker could walk around like that - shouldn’t it hurt? - but she decided not to ask Kanaya about out of politeness… even if the smell of grub sauce filled her nose when she stood too close to her.

However, no matter how many hours or days it took, Gamzee was an elusive bastard and managed to keep himself from getting caught. Kanaya would walk off searching, sometimes accompanied by someone, but will always return with a scowl on her elegant face.

Terezi wasn’t sure how she felt about it. On one hand, she wanted Gamzee to be alive because they all desperately need as much trolls as possible. On the other hand, she wanted Gamzee gone for all of the god damn trouble he caused. If possible, kill him herself.

But she knew that Karkat was relieved that Gamzee was still alive. To see Kanaya coming back with no purple blood over her clothes or her chainsaws was like a breathe of fresh air to Karkat. Terezi knew that no matter what crimes Gamzee has done, Karkat wouldn’t care. Gamzee was his moirail, and moirails watched each others backs.

It made Terezi wondered if Karkat knew where the clown was hidden, or if he had anything to do with Kanaya’s failed attempts at hunting. It wouldn’t really be surprising at all.

Terezi tilted her head to the side when she heard some foot steps approaching her. She braced herself, not at all worried for what’s about to happen next.

With a bit of happy purring, Nepeta launched herself at Terezi, knocking her out of the fancy red chair. Terezi, giggling madly, didn’t mind landing on her side with a cat troll on top of her; especially when the troll was licking her cheek like a mother cat would do to a kitten. After all the carpet she was laying on felt pretty gosh darn comfortable, and the olive green smell coming off of Nepeta was delicious.

“What are you doing in the lab?” Nepeta asked as she nuzzled Terezi’s jaw line. “You know how easy it could have been for me to eat you?”

“Are you kidding? I heard you a yard away,” Terezi responded. “And smelled you mile away too!” As if to demonstrate, she made a sniffing noise at Nepeta’s green cheeks.

“Well, I wasn’t trying to eat you in the furrst place,” Nepeta laughed.

Terezi grinned happily at Nepeta. It was so nice to see Nepeta act almost like her old self: so cheerful, so fun. She scratched her behind her ear and heard some more purring being emitted from the cat troll’s throat. Terezi often wondered if Nepeta actually did liked to be petted and touched like a normal meow beast, or if it was just for show. She didn’t bother asking to not ruin moments like this.

“’So what is the mighty AC doing here in the lab herself?’ GC asks. She glances down at you with her powerful eyes.” Terezi asked, falling into her silly role-playing habits.

Nepeta quickly followed along. “AC just wants to let you that she’ll be off explurring again before she leaves. She figures it was a good idea so you won’t get worried.”

Terezi’s smiling lips twitched a bit as she struggled not to frown.

“Exploring? With a bend of her elegant long neck, GC becomes face to face with you. ‘Where are you going?’ She asks you.”

Nepeta sheepishly looked away from Terezi and fiddled with her thumbs. “AC just wants to go hunting again. She’s restless and she knows she’s well enough to do it.”

“GC nods her mighty head at you. Indeed you have gotten better and you’re all healed now but…” Terezi trailed off. She arched her eyebrows and frowned, expressing her sad and worried expression. “But can’t you just let it go… GC asks sadly.”

Nepeta looked back at her and made a sad, helpless look. “AC can’t. AC just can’t. AC says she’s sorry, but she’ll never be able to sleep peacefurry if she can’t find him.”
Terezi sighed. She didn’t even know why she was trying when Nepeta was as stubborn as a mule.

Kanaya wasn’t the only one hunting for Gamzee. Within a day or two of the missing incident, Nepeta was able to convince Kanaya to hunt with her. Everyday they would go to their failed hunting, and while Kanaya would return with a scowl Nepeta would return with steaming fury.

Even when Kanaya had given up about a week ago, Nepeta kept on searching even when it seemed impossible. What Nepeta said about being restless was true. Yes, she was a bit bouncy and energetic back then, but now? She paced all over the place. It was as if sitting or laying down pained her, and that being in constant motions helped soothed her. Often times Terezi would see the troll’s grey eyes dart from place to other, as if they were expecting to see someone pop out of the shadows any moment now. Terezi noticed how often Nepeta bugged the others into doing something active with her, such as a challenge in physical abilities. But most of the time she saw her challenging them into a play fight as if they were tools to sharpen her skills that were already through the roof… or as toys she’ll have to settle with until she found the one she really wanted?

Indeed, Nepeta was restless. She’s just this troll waiting for the right moment to happen. She’s like a lion, who has the incredible patience to stalk their preys for who knew many hours until the final moment… only her prey can’t be seen.

And Terezi knew how long Nepeta could wait.

Terezi took a deep breathe and smiled weakly. “GC worries about you, AC. You know that, right?”

Nepeta smiled. “Of course AC does. If anything, you could have been AC’s meowrail if she hadn’t met TC.”