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Post by ActuallyFace on May 6, 2014 8:32:43 GMT -8
[This is a closed RP between myself and empyreanVisionary]
Alternia wasn't exactly a peaceful place; run by a ruthless empress with a thirst for universal domination, the planet's inhabitants were raised into the roles required for this from birth. Violence and aggression were the most important weapons for survival, with the widespread use of magic and magical power (or mana), being the second most important.
But it got by. The trolls under adulthood lived on the harsh surface of Alternia alone with their large, animal-shaped guardians, while the adults left in large fleets to join the empress, and to fight the inhabitants of other planets for their worlds. This left Alternia exposed, but the legacy of the Empress's force and aggression usually kept away anyone who even began to think of attacking it.
Usually.
On a planet far off, in a completely different galaxy, a race of shape-shifters had finished off another mana-powered race. Mana wasn't entirely rare in the universe, but as a food source, it made life difficult; perhaps one plant in every five galaxies with a life-inhabited planet used it, and the shape-shifters did away with a planet's mana in a matter of years, usually only two. Feeding off of mana required an insane amount of travel, and because of how attached the users were to mana (as it was tied to their life force in most cases, that was almost always very attached), it required quite a bit of stealth as well.
Which made Alternia a perfect target. Alternians were not incredibly sociable, and many lived in solitude (which was due in part to how large some of their custodians were). There were some more densely populated areas, especially around where the Empress lived when she returned, but communications between trolls was usually kept to a minimum. And even then, it was a planet inhabited mostly by the children of the species. Their defenses against such an attack consisted entirely of fear and legends.
So when the shape-shifters began to attack, no one really noticed. They took the forms of trolls they killed for power, and allowed themselves to absorb the mana that existed around them in huge amounts when they dwelled in more highly-populated areas. The trolls in the area would start to feel themselves grow weaker, but it would be gradual, and it wouldn't be until all of the shape-shifters took up residence on Alternia that the trolls felt any noticeable drain on their mana and life force.
Karkat took a long time to notice the drain; longer than most. He lived in a densely populated area, a large neighborhood, but he didn't feel the drain in the way that everyone else was starting to... mostly because he was a mutant, devoid of mana.
Mutants were rare on Alternia, but they existed, usually doing their best not to be noticed. Mutants were generally sought out to be killed, as Alternians were convinced their mutations were actually some sort of genetic disease, and didn't want the immunity to mana to be passed down among them until they all had it. Mana made the race stronger, and any weakness was not only hated, but feared.
So Karkat spent his life doing his very best not to be noticed as a mutant. He hid his lack of mana behind lies and vague excuses, and kept himself on his toes, constantly tense and terrified of being discovered. The feeling on inferiority that came from lacking mana, too, probably didn't help his stress or self-image.
Three weeks before he noticed the drain, his friends began to complain to him of feeling noticeably weaker, like they were growing sick. This terrified Karkat. He wasn't sure what was causing it, but the fact that all of his friends were feeling it and not himself probably meant that it had something to do with mana. Well... useful information to them all, but Karkat couldn't tell them. Telling them would mean explaining that he was a mutant, which meant death. Execution. And besides, it didn't look like they were dying... they were just... sick.
For two weeks, this continued. His friends grew gradually weaker. Not really physically yet; mostly, it was just their mana and the abilities that came with it lessening, which frustrated them. That was normal with most sicknesses. Mana was delicate, and usually the first to be attacked. And then another week after that, a warning was issued: "Someone is making us sick. Do not trust anyone. They are among us."
It had to be the mana. It had to be that, and if everyone was growing weaker except for Karkat, someone would notice. Someone would kill him for being a mutant, and that meant... meant death, which meant he had to leave. He had to leave immediately. He couldn't let anyone notice, not even his friends.
So a day after the warning was issued, Karkat had packed a backpack with everything he thought he would need to survive, typed a brief goodbye into a memo with all of his friends added, and then left, his hulking crab monster guardian at his side.
Despite Alternia's generally harsh landscape, it wasn't hard to survive alone there. At least, it wasn't hard for a troll born into a dangerous position with a harder life ahead of him than most trolls, who had made a point of familiarizing himself with survival techniques as well as how to dual-wield sickles. He stayed in the forest for the most part, the tree-covered area that started around his neighborhood and continued for for a few miles... there was more water there, more fruit, and more animals he could hunt, plus wood and shelter and... generally an easier environment to live in. And he missed his friends and comfortable home, of course, but his survival instinct was much more dominant than his will to be comfortable. He'd prepared for this kind of thing. He'd known he would have to live like this at some point, in order to survive. He didn't know when this would end, but he knew he was prepared to wait it out.
After a while he started wondering what was happening to his friends... would they be alright? Were they alright? He started to doubt the possibility of everyone surviving, of beating the... whatever had come, whatever had attacked. He usually had such confidence in the trolls, in his people, but what if they couldn't beat it? If it was attacking the mana, that was... that was their life force. They could die. And that thought was heavy, though he continued to carry it with him, his worry growing to encompass more than just himself.
Eventually, he grew tired of the forest. It was heavy and monotonous, if necessary, and he craved some kind of change in his environment... if only for a moment. So two weeks later, when the forest opened up to a long stretch of empty beach, waves crashing down at the other end of perhaps a half a mile of sand, Karkat jumped took the chance for change gratefully and excitedly. His guardian (affectionately named Crabdad), stayed at the treeline with Karkat's things while he pelted across the clean sand toward the water.
There wasn't a lot of grinning or laughing or whooping while Karkat ran, just... relief, to be somewhere different. To feel the damp sand under his feet and the salty mist in the wind cool his hot, dirty skin. And the waves, too, were appealing... he could be clean and cold again, wash away so much grime and feel a little bit newer, a little bit less like a bug in the dirt.
He spent perhaps a half an hour in the water when he got to it, just enjoying the cold ocean and the feeling of openness around him, the feeling of lightness, and then he climbed back out and walked up to where the waves could only lap at his feet while he walked on the wet sand, parallel to the water. No one was there... he practically owned the beach, he thought, and it was freeing. For a moment, he had decided not to hide and fear, and it was brilliant. It was wonderful, and light, and he didn't really want to let it go... He owned the beach, he owned himself, and he had the ability to run free without anyone trying to hurt him. And his heavy thoughts and worries were still there, but they felt like so much less... he had shut them away with his running, with his relief, if just for the moment.
And then he saw... something, in the distance, and everything came crashing back around him. It was troll-sized, troll-shaped, and it was moving... oh, god, he was stupid. How had he even managed that stupidity?! He was miles from Crabdad and all of his things, and... he groped at his waist, and found that one of his sickles was still attached there, which was a comforting thought. But he didn't want to confront anyone here. Anyone this close to the ocean was probably a seadweller, right? And seadwellers were stronger than most trolls, they had sharper teeth and tougher skin, they had colder blood and longer lives, and if he had to fight a seadweller while he was only a few yards from the ocean, he would lose. They would drag him under and drown him. He couldn't do it.
Karkat froze in his tracks for a moment, letting himself process this through a sudden wave of cold fear, and then turned and fled up the the beach. First, he had to get as far away from the water as possible... and then it would be back to crabdad. Crabdad could help him. He had to get there, he had to get to his guardian, and his other sickle, too... he could fight with one sickle, but two was infinitely better. He was miles away, and he knew that thought was probably a stupid and hopeless one, but that was the only flicker of hope he even had. That was his only chance against a seadweller.
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Post by empyreanVisionary on May 6, 2014 13:27:09 GMT -8
Eridan had been no less than horrified when he came back from cleaning his home to find the message from Karkat. Living on the sea really had its disadvantages sometimes… He didn’t just have dust to be concerned about, he had the salt. If he left his windows open for any length of time, and he didn’t clean for a while, he’d have salt deposits all over his home. Granted, it wasn’t particularly warm, so it wasn’t nearly as corrosive as it could have been. But, even though he wasn’t the cleanest troll to ever live — his possessions were always strewn all over the place — he found himself actually cleaning a lot. And it took a long time, because his hive was honestly enormous. But since the salt was so corrosive, and even though Eridan wasn’t particularly good about keeping things clean, his possessions and his home were of utmost importance to him. And that meant cleaning the house from top to bottom most weeks. (That said, it was partially because he lived with the windows open most all the time. He didn’t feel concerned about trolls getting in to attack him. What was going to attack him out there? Landdwellers? Ha!)
The message he received from Karkat had definitely been more than a little unwelcome. He actually felt himself panicking as he read more and more. He was leaving? Yes, so Eridan had been really unsettled by the weakening mana in the atmosphere, just like all the other trolls, and he felt like he had a hard time trusting others… but Karkat? Leaving? He was one of the only trolls out there who cared about him. How was he supposed to handle this? He hadn’t done anything on his end, if only because he didn’t know what to do. He already lived in a secluded enough area as it was, so he probably wasn’t feeling the effects like those in the city. From what he understood, those in the city were more strongly affected than those in the country. Probably because of the sheer volume of trolls. Hell, some trolls were even having the mana literally sucked out of them and dying. There was definitely something among them that was doing this. Or someone.
There was a conference today on the matter. In the city, no less. Eridan had been invited, as it was a highblood affair, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to go. The whole matter frightened him, and with this new stress added on him of Karkat leaving. He had enough trouble with his friends already. With Feferi having given up on a quadrant with him, he had enough stress. But she had really been the only one who showed him support and kindness… Except for Karkat… And now Karkat was leaving, too. Did that mean he’d never be online again?
It made Eridan step back from his computer and think. Karkat lived in the city. It probably made sense that he was fleeing. There was nothing he could do about this at all. Hell, Eridan wasn’t sure there was anything he could do. Perhaps Karkat was doing the smartest thing possible by fleeing now, before this… plague… choked out his life, too. It was an uncomfortable prospect, really. The idea had been brought up that it was some kind of plague, that it spread from troll to troll… and that was possible. Which meant that being in contact with more trolls really did cause the disease to spread. All the more reason he didn’t really want to travel to the city to meet in a group. It was the city. It was a group of trolls. And he didn’t want them passing this on to him.
Still, it was too suspicious that the Empress and many high officials were the first ones to fall ill and die. It was possible that the plague could have started among those ranks, but it was very… unlikely. If that was even the case, it could almost be said that the plague was sentient, and it went after those who had the power to control the population first.
Which put him at higher risk than Karkat would be, for sure. Well, he didn’t know what his blood color was, but there was no way his risk was any higher than Eridan’s. He knew he was a landdweller, anyway. Probably kind of a high blood color, since he had an aquatic-type lusus. Anyway, Karkat was definitely the most caring landdweller he’d come in contact with. Many times, he’d made him reconsider his plans for destroying all landdwellers. And now, something else was doing it for him. Except it was starting with the seadwellers, it seemed.
He swallowed hard, considering all this. It had been hard for the remaining highbloods to rally the other trolls together and quiet down the situation. Everyone had panicked. As far as he knew, Feferi and all his friends were still safe, but for how long? The more he thought about it, the more he felt himself collapsing into a panic. He’d tried so hard to keep all this out of his mind, for his own sanity. But the conference, and now Karkat had made the whole thing come back full-force for Eridan. And now that he was worrying about it, it was all the worse. He was panicking. About his own safety. About the safety of the few trolls he cared about.
He’d go, then. He’d go to the conference and share what he knew and what he thought about this. He didn’t have any ideas of how to fight back, but… maybe someone else would. He’d be doing his part just by being there, right?
Decisively, he started gathering up what he was taking with him to the mainland. It wasn’t much. He changed into a fancier outfit, wanting to be sure he looked his best. He was going to be a bit late, wasn’t he? Thanks to all his deliberating, he knew he was cutting it short, but it would be understandable. He would blame his delay on something and no one would question him. What he ended up wearing was a mostly white suit, something like a junior military uniform. He’d served as a junior soldier before, and that specific “regalia” was much more subdued than this, but this outfit was more of a status symbol. He added the barred pins he’d received for his junior service and a couple of golden chain tie tack pins, before slicking his hair back into its usual ‘do. He didn’t look too bad. Anyway, his dress was to indicate his status, and it did that well.
FInally, he slung his Ahab’s Crosshairs over his shoulder with the strap attached. He didn’t think it would work that well, what with the mana being drained and the fact that the weapon worked with a connection to his own mana and the mana in the air. Given the situation, it was very possible that one or both of those things wasn’t going to work when he needed it to… But it would probably still function, and still be able to kill if he needed it to. And that said, on his own, he was a tough enough fighter. He didn’t do a lot of fighting without his weapon, but he was physically superior to any stupid landdwellers, at least.
All of that taken into account, he thought he was ready. It was a short swim to the shore and then a decent walk to the city… He patted Seahorsedad on the head and bid him goodbye, feeling uncertain, still, but he didn’t make it sound like an adieu. Hell, he didn’t know if he -would- come back, but at this point he felt a certain responsibility for dealing with this, especially when it was something that had left him… well, all alone at this point. He didn’t want to think about it right now…. And he wouldn’t; he’d just do what he had to do.
It was about an hour later that he arrived at the building where they were holding the conference. He hadn’t cared much about the landdwellers that basically parted like the Red Sea when he walked through the city… One of the perks of being a seadweller was that the landdwellers knew their place. They didn’t get anywhere near him, because they didn’t know how easy it might be to tick him off, then it would just be a few seconds and one shot from his gun and they’d be a pile of ashes. Though this effect was definitely more pronounced, Eridan noticed, when he was wearing regalia like this. It was like the icing on the cake for a seadweller such as himself, when it repelled landdwellers like a magnet. But he wasn’t sure what to expect when he opened the door to the conference.
…Definitely not what he actually saw when he opened the door.
The room was full of trolls. Dead trolls. It looked like they hadn’t even had a chance to fight back. There was no blood, no injury visible anywhere… No bruising, no weapons drawn. And the sight made the blood rush out of Eridan’s face. Had he been here any earlier, he’d be dead, too. What he was seeing here just made him terrified… He’d seen plenty of dead trolls before, but he’d narrowly missed being caught up in this group, hadn’t he? And what was happening here just gave him more reason to believe that this wasn’t a virus. It wasn’t a sickness. It was an act of aggression; someone was perpetuating this. Someone who had found out about this meeting…
Now, Eridan was afraid there wasn’t much use in trying to tell anyone. Only escaping, and trying to find one one’s own way in this… horrid place, the horrid place Alternia had become. He didn’t know what else to do, or if he had any other options. He slowly closed the door behind him… then, he didn’t waste any time in leaving. Whoever… whatever had done this might have not been too far away. It was an invisible threat, so he didn’t know what to look for, or where to hide. But right now, he didn’t think hiding would make any sense. Instead, he ran.
He ran out of the building. Through the streets, ignoring the confused gazes of the landdwellers he passed. He didn’t give a damn. He ran until he was too tired to keep running.
And by that time, he was out near the shore. He walked the rest of the way, feeling safer now that no one else was around. But as he stepped none too carefully through the grass… he wasn’t intending to be stealthy after all, he caught a glimpse of… someone else. A landdweller? Yes, it appeared to be… But now it seemed the other had noticed him, and he wasn’t going to stick around… Damn it. While being around others might not have felt particularly safe, Eridan felt a certain sense of security in being near this one. He didn’t know him; he’d only caught a glimpse of him. But if a landdweller was all the way out here, then he must have been one of the landdwellers who had left to try and take refuge. Which meant he was more likely a higher-blood, and it also meant he might know something. So he called out to him. “Hoy there! You! Yes, you, Landdwweller!” He was still moving, but not running. And not at the pace that the other was. He knew that he could hear him, regardless. When he wanted to, he could have a loud voice. “I havve no reason to hurt you. I do havve a feww questions, though.” He wouldn’t pursue him unless he felt the need to. But if he was a landdweller who had escaped, then he wanted to know what he knew. He felt a need to do something about this. He’d just seen a whole room of slaughtered trolls, and he wanted to do something with what little he knew.
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Post by ActuallyFace on May 6, 2014 15:23:36 GMT -8
Honestly, Karkat had been frightened of his own leaving as well. Sure, he had known that he would need to at some point, and he had certainly known in the moment that is was necessary. He had to make sure it looked like he did have mana, and that meant he had to act like he had mana. It also meant that he couldn't act like he had mana, because there was no way he would be able to constantly keep up the appearance of losing mana, and of growing weaker. He would literally have to die to seem like he had mana, to survive... assuming that was what was happening here. That people were dying. And it certainly did seem that way; some of the more influential highbloods had died... actually, a lot of them had. And who was to say others wouldn't follow? Especially when mana was so closely tied to a troll's life force. Sucking it all away would kill a troll, and it looked like that was where things were going now. The mana was being sucked out of Alternia; all of it.
But he didn't want to leave his friends. He didn't want to leave everyone and everything he knew. He was certain their situation wouldn't improve with him there, but he still wanted to try. He wanted to do what he could, because he could. Because he was stronger they could be now, if only in a physical sense... he didn't know what he could do with that, but he wanted to do something. Or maybe that was just an excuse, and what he really wanted was their company... solitude was lonely, and being alone meant his thoughts were welcome to hurt him, his self-hate was welcome to grow, and there was nothing he could do about it. His friends gave him something to do, to focus on, and something to care about. He needed that.
And he was right; solitude in the forest was difficult, and stifling. He was constantly afraid; afraid of being caught, of being seen, of starving, of dehydration, of heat exhaustion, of being poisoned. He was afraid not only of the rest of the troll race, but also of the world itself, and all of the dangers it had. And he was worried, that his friends would die without him knowing, without him being able to... do nothing about it, probably. And because of these things, he forced himself to grow dirty and move quietly, constantly on his toes and full of worry and fear and stress, his body tense, everything in him objecting to continuing except simple survival instincts. So that beach... that open, free cleanness, was so, so appealing. It felt absolutely incredible, right up until the moment he realized that it wasn't as safe as he had originally assumed it could be. No, there was a seadweller there. And a seadweller could kill him.
Karkat paused a second time when he heard the seadweller yell for him, instinctively submissive to the higher-blooded troll. But that didn't mean he was afraid; he was very, very afraid, and his instinct to fight back in order to survive was much, much more powerful than the instinct to submit, especially when he got the chance to remind himself that he needed to keep moving. If this highblood caught him, he was dead. Karkat was physically stronger than most midbloods now, maybe, but there was still the matter of the abilities mana could lend a troll, which he lacked, and if this troll was a seadweller (which he certainly was) Karkat wouldn't be a match for him. It also seemed as if he lived in solitude out here, which made sense for a seadweller to want to do, as the lusi were generally seadwelling as well and needed the water, and that would mean he still had more mana than most would. Which meant Karkat wouldn't be able to match him physically, and he needed weapons to help him, and his other weapon was miles down the beach...
The idea that this seadweller had no reason to hurt Karkat was almost laughable. He really almost took the time to laugh at it, though he was breathing heavily from his running already and that would have been counterproductive. Karkat wasn't just a mutant in his lack of mana, but his blood was bright red as well; a strange, disgusting color that didn't have any place on the existing hemospectrum, and had been declared below even the peasant castes. Having his bright red blood was a crime deserving of death. If the seadweller caught him, he would die. He would have to die, and it was just that simple. This seadweller had plenty of reason to hurt him.
He started running again, and while he was moving fairly fast, he slowed down the moment he got to the dry sand, as it was so much harder to get a good foothold. But he was still moving, still terrified of the seadweller and what might happen to him if the other caught him before he actually got to his weapon, before he had the means to really defend himself.
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Post by empyreanVisionary on May 6, 2014 17:37:39 GMT -8
Karkat wasn't alone in those feelings, that was for sure. If anyone knew solitude and loneliness and wanting to change that, it was Eridan. Okay, so maybe he was selfish some of the time, but under most circumstances, he really just felt miserable for it. That was part of the reason he'd felt so crushed when he read the memo about Karkat leaving. While he understood that he had damn good reason to be leaving, being that he lived in a city, or at least he thought he did... it didn't change the fact that it made him feel alone. Completely and totally alone. And that was part of his motivation for going to this conference in the first place. This conference that never got underway because everyone fucking DIED. And now there was nothing he could do... Which was part of the reason why he was so insistent on finding out everything he could. And he thought this troll might know something.
Well, the fact that he was running at least made it seem like he was definitely the real thing. Nobody imitating a troll, or any of that shit. He knew that he was dangerous. And he probably looked even more dangerous, or at least worrisome where this poor troll's preservation instinct and sanity were concerned, but Eridan really didn't have any reason to kill him. Even if he was a seadweller, and this was a landdweller, he had no desire for purging the land of its low-class scum right now. Hell, something else was purging for him. Right now, he just wanted information. It wouldn't do him any good to kill off a source of information. And he'd just seen more dead trolls than he'd liked to see in one day. Not that this pathetic bastard running from him knew that.
"Wwait the fuck up..." He yelled after the other, but he knew his words weren't going to stop him now. The bastard thought his life was on the line and he wasn't going to stop running until he was unable to stop running. Eridan sighed, and picked up the pace, before launching into a full-out run. He might have been a seadweller, but that sure as hell didn't mean he wasn't fast on the land, too. He was strong enough; all his muscles were lean and toned from swimming. And he was probably even more agile on land than the average seadweller because he spent so much time on land. So this landdweller was not going to fare well against him. Especially when he was moving toward the sand.
"You knoww, if I really wwanted to kill ya, I wwould a' sniped ya back there wwith this huge-ass wweapon on my back!", he growled as he ran. He definitely didn't expect the other to change his mind about running, though. He just kept a steady pace, knowing he'd tire slower. He was moving fast, almost as fast as the other, but not as hastily, which wasn't burning near as much energy. He'd already noted that the other had a weapon, and that he could very well try to use it, so he planned how he'd get it out of his hands. The only real disadvantage he had here was running in this stiffer clothing than he was used to, but it wasn't an issue for him. He wasn't concerned, because he didn't care about risking damaging it. After what he'd just seen, and removed himself from, there was no point in worrying about keeping it clean or undamaged.
And when the other got on the dry sand, as predicted, he slowed down a ton. Meanwhile, Eridan anticipated it, and curved his path of pursuit as he neared the other... It would be the perfect moment to catch him and take him down. He might have had Eridan pursuing him a lot farther if he'd been smart enough to avoid the sand, but that was no matter. He'd catch up to him now. His curved path and the force at which he launched himself onto the sand minimized the time he had to spend running on it. Since it took over 50% more energy to run on dry sand than on a normal surface like the forest floor, he would minimize the time spent running on it to catch up with him. Taking longer strides and leaping through them gracefully got him right at Karkat's back in no time.
And with that, he leapt to tackle him to the ground. The sand would soften the landing for both of them, and then the only thing to deal with would be the sickle he'd almost certainly pull off his waist and try to attack him with. By the time he had him on the ground, he'd already grabbed it, so Eridan used his weight to pin him down, his front to the sand, disabling him much more than if he was on his back. Once he'd accomplished that, he needed only grab his wrist and twist his arm a bit to get him to let go out of the weapon, and when it was in Eridan's hand, he tossed it a good distance away from them, pinning him down more securely so he couldn't move his arms as easily.
"...An' here you wwere wworryin' I wwould kill you. I really don't havve a reason to, landdwweller. There's someone or somethin' goin' aroun' killin' all a' us as it is." He paused, catching his breath a bit. This whole thing hadn't exactly been easy on him, even if he had been the one to catch up to the other. He'd put up a fight, but it had been a mistake for him to move into the sand. Granted, had he moved to the side instead, he might have given Eridan an edge on catching up, anyway. Eridan took a deep breath, "I just wwant information right noww. I came upon a rather bad discovvery just a short wwhile ago, an' I wwant all the information I can get about this. If you havve anythin' to offer. Noww, if you'vve calmed dowwn enough, I'll let you up. But go for your wweapon an' its lights out." He figured he needed to keep a threat in there, but he didn't really want to sit on the landdweller the whole time. If he calmed down, if he stopped struggling, he'd slowly let him up.
"I figure... Since you're probably runnin', bein' that there aren't any landdwwellers wwho livve around here, wwhat do you knoww? Wwhat made you wwant to leavve? Are you just tryin' to savve your owwn skin or do you knoww somethin' that they havven't made public information? If you don't, I'm not goin' to murder you or anythin'. Wwhat you don't knoww, you don't knoww. I just need information... so perhaps I can do somethin' about it." He took a deep breath, shaking his head. "This isn't evven about the blood caste; the seadwwellers seem to be goin' first for the most part, an' the trolls livvin' in cities. Wwe're all feelin' the pain since the mana's dwwindlin'. The sooner wwe can stop this, the better."
Perhaps, given that the seadweller just kept talking, Karkat would realize how weird he sounded. He had a pretty prominent accent, one that seemed to be a little more lazy than usual, probably because he'd been running, or been distressed in some way... There was something kind of familiar about it, wasn't there? But he probably couldn't place it. Anyway, any feelings of familiarity that might surface could make him feel more at ease about this situation.
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Post by ActuallyFace on May 7, 2014 7:09:37 GMT -8
Once Karkat reached the dry sand, he began to really panic. He could feel himself slowing down, feel the force in his steps going to waste, and as a result he tried frantically to speed himself up. Which, of course, only resulted in him moving even more hastily and with less actual efficiency, and while adrenaline was pumping through him like crazy, he wasn't making any real use of it. He just wanted out, and away, and he was thinking only about that desired end result instead of the best way to get there. He was terrified of Eridan, of the fast-approaching seadweller that seemed determined to talk to him for some reason and would surely kill him for another, if he did, and he genuinely believed his life was in danger. Karkat didn't have much to really live for at that point, save for the simple desire not to die, but that desire was and always had been incredibly strong.
He went immediately for his weapon when Eridan tackled him. He was startled by it, though, and it took him a moment; evidently enough for the seadweller to disarm him, and leave him struggling in the sand. If he had been frightened before, he was terrified now, with a seadweller on his back and no visible way out. He didn't want to die... he really didn't want to die, and he definitely thought he was going to. He didn't even hear the other's words; he was too busy flailing his arms and legs, trying to get something under himself to push the other off. He was quiet, though, for the most part; there was sand in front of his mouth and he didn't love the idea of changing that to in his mouth, though he did let out the odd frustrated, growling grunt. Than, after another moment, his struggling escalated and he let out a high-pitched scratchy-sounding scream when he got his head to the side. It might hurt Eridan's ears, but it wasn't really intended for him; he was trying to let his lusus know he was in danger, that he needed help. Not that he expected it to reach him, being actual miles away, but he was desperate.
After a while he did calm down a little, realizing it was completely hopeless with him in this state. He'd run too much; he was breathing hard now, his skin overheating beneath his damp puffy sweater and jeans. The rush of adrenaline was gone, and now he was exhausted from all of that physical exertion... plus, he needed to act that way, too. He was supposed to be lacking mana and lacking life, right? And now that the seadweller had him, he really had to play along with that. He'd have to lie his ass off until he couldn't anymore. So when Eridan let him up, he only rolled over to sit upright, wiping tears away with sandy sleeves before Eridan could see them. Something felt tight and unstable deep in the center of his chest, so he took a deep breath, then raised his eyes to meet the seadweller's while he spoke.
So, he wanted information? Well, he had... something. He knew a few things because of how the mana drain was affecting him (i.e., not at all) and how he'd seen it affecting his friends, but he... had to be careful about what he revealed. He wasn't supposed to know what he knew, because he wasn't supposed to lack mana. And he didn't know how much this seadweller knew either, or if he was even telling the truth about why he had sought Karkat out like this. Though... something about him seemed familiar. Maybe it was the hair? Or the way he spoke? Karkat wasn't really sure, but it was almost comforting. The familiarity didn't seem sinister, but rather sort of nice... there was something positive in it that he wasn't entirely able to place... which only served to put him more on edge. Karkat didn't know anybody, really. He knew trolls online, he was friends with them there, but he'd never really met any of them in real life... once, maybe, when he FLARPed with them, but that was so long ago... he barely remembered anything from it, except how much it had tired him.
"I don't... Of fucking course I'm out here to save my own damn skin! They told us something was draining the mana, right? Where the fuck do you think all of that is?! Sure, the world itself oozes that shit like a dying pig oozes blood, but trolls themselves add to it. If you're surrounded by trolls, chances are you're all going to attract whatever's sucking the life out of them faster than Troll Will Smith attracts awards for his pure golden incredibleness. Of fucking course I left to save myself. Not that it did any actual fucking good here, given my seemingly fantastic ability to attract snot-nosed rich kids from miles the fuck away!" As he continued speaking, he seemed to regain some of his energy, his new-found anger propelling him forward with more force than his fear had a moment ago. "I know about as fucking much as the rest of the whole damn world, excluding, I guess, his almighty Prince Fucking Overly-Agressive."
With that he finally pushed himself to his feet, his wide eyes narrowing to glare at the other. Then he turned his head, searching the sand for his sickle. Well, it wasn't too far away... but he would have to play his part now, while he was so close to the seadweller. Who did, he noticed, seem to have a big-ass wweapon on his back. It looked like it was probably powered by mana, which might have been an advantage in this situation, had they not been out in the middle of fucking nowhere, where the mana was still mostly likely plenty strong. So no leaping for the sickle... he could hope that Crabdad had heard his screeching and was making his way over, but that was pretty unlikely as well. Crabdad was miles away, and even though he was downwind, Karkat's voice probably wouldn't carry that far. Even if it did, it would take too long for him to get to Karkat now. He'd moved too far away... he had really moved too far away from him to be safe anymore. God, he was an idiot!
"Can I leave, now?" He growled, managing to twist even that request into something more angry and insulting. He looked back at Eridan, and while there was anger in his eyes, the fear he'd been feeling earlier was showing again now. He really didn't want to be there. He wanted to be back where he was safe, far, far away from this seadweller, his gun, and the entitled attitude he seemed to have regarding Karkat's own time, and how little he seemed to respect his wishes. "Contrary to popular belief, not all landwellers actually fucking jump at the chance to be this close to entitled, salty assholes. I'm guarding my own ass, remember?"
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Post by empyreanVisionary on May 7, 2014 9:32:32 GMT -8
When Eridan had finally pinned the troll down, he felt a wave of relief settling over him as well. As confident as he had been in being able to take the other down, he was just glad it was over with right now. He’d been getting a little out of breath, but nothing like the landdweller he’d pursued. He could tell he was having a really hard time, and he’d panicked once he realized how much drag the sand was putting on his ability to move. Of course, Eridan had known and prepared for it, and that made the difference of where and when he’d bring him down.
He hadn’t wasted any time disarming the little fucker, but he hadn’t gone unscathed for it. There was a small wound on his arm slowly leaking violet blood, and he looked at it with disdain, but that was what he’d gotten for tackling a troll with a scythe at his waist. And he’d managed to get it away from him before the other could do any more damage. Oh well, it was nothing, really. Just a little wound that would heal up in no time in the salt water. The scream the other let out was unexpected, and uncomfortable to his sensitive ears. He grimaced, but he realized what the other was doing with it. Damn, he sure wouldn’t do that kind of thing if he knew Eridan’s reputation as a lusus slaughterer. He’d killed lusi with his bare hands; no matter how large or fearsome his lusus was, he’d probably be fucked anyway.
But Eridan wasn’t actually going to hurt him. And he wouldn’t hurt his lusus, unless he had no choice. Still, he wasn’t planning on either one of those things. He really did just want information. He didn’t need to see any more dead bodies, as distressed and frustrated as he was right now. He took a moment to thank the Mother Grub that he had been pretty well charged with mana at the time he chased this kid down. If he had been in any worse shape for mana drain, he probably wouldn’t have been able to catch him after all, but he was at near to peak condition for where the mana levels had been hanging about lately. So far, the earth was still giving off plenty of mana, but it wasn’t doing it quite fast enough to sustain the entire troll population.
Wow, this little troll was quite the firecracker, wasn’t he? Eridan found himself rather surprised by the way he locked eyes with him. The way he didn’t hesitate to speak his mind. He was crass and rude and …somehow delightful. The familiarity radiated from him. Eridan felt like he’d known him for ages, but he wasn’t thinking about Karkat. The other was, however, evoking certain connections to him. Huh, he sure was talkative. And he wasn’t sure he got much out of all that chatter, but he listened, and the other could probably tell just how carefully he was listening. Even if the other troll was really angry and it was showing through in every word, the seadweller was listening to him. Actually listening!
If it had been any average landdweller talking to him like that, Eridan probably would have killed them for their insolence. Didn’t this kid know how many insults, directed at this seadweller, were spilling from his mouth? Any other seadweller would have killed him by the first one. Probably before he managed to get “snot-nosed rich kids” out of his grubhole. But, thankfully for Karkat, Eridan seemed to have a lot more patience than that.
He hesitated before speaking in response to him. “…Prince Fuckin’ Ovverly Aggressivve, huh? Wwell, this ovverly aggressivve seadwweller hasn’t evven movved to clip your head off wwith your owwn wweapon, so I don’t think you can call that ovverly aggressivve.” He looked back to the other. There was still anger and fear mixed in his eyes, which made Eridan feel kind of sad all of a sudden. Sure, he had launched himself into his life for information. He had fucking tackled him to the sand. And it didn’t seem that the other really knew anything different, did it? Eridan sighed as he contemplated over what information he’d given him. “I suppose you’re sure you don’t knoww anythin’…” Now, he gave a second sigh, and rose to his feet from the sand. “If you’re tryin’ to stay awway from civvilization, I can tell you for sure… there aren’t any seadwwellers livvin’ off the southern coast for miles an’ miles headin’ east, savve for me. All a’ them are hangin’ out closer to the wwestern shore… that wway.” He pointed the direction he’d been heading back to Crabdad. “So the shoreline is pretty safe, for… about forty or fifty miles. An’ there are lots a’ places to hide from the sun. But once you get close to that area there’s a harbor towwn and you probably wwant to keep your distance by goin’ inland.” He figured that was about the extent of information he could offer this fleeing landdweller. As a seadweller, he got out and around. Fifty miles swimming was a good workout for a seadweller, after all, and he’d gone to that town a few times. He felt like helping him, at least because they had something in common… They were both seeking out safety in the midst of all this mess. When everyone was trying to avoid death like this, from a force they couldn’t even see or recognize, there was no point in making a bunch of casteist bullshit out of it. It would be a waste of their dwindling energy.
“You can leavve,” Eridan responded, somewhat sadly. He felt a certain kinship and familiarity with this landdweller. Or was he really just that fucking lonely right now? He knew the other wasn’t going to waste a fucking minute getting away from him, which saddened him, but he also understood. He’d been a dick, chasing him down and tackling him like that. And he hadn’t gotten anything out of it. But it had been worth a try. He stayed where he was as the other disappeared, probably at a run. He really was a pathetic lonely bastard, wasn’t he? How had the other put him so much at ease? He seemed like a total bastard, but… yes, something about him really reminded Eridan of Karkat. It had to be a coincidence, right? He didn’t know what Karkat used as a weapon, anyway… And he’d never seen what he looked like. He swore their personalities were pretty similar, though…
Well, was it a coincidence? Or what?
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Post by ActuallyFace on May 7, 2014 16:34:44 GMT -8
Karkat almost interrupted the other when he tried to defend his violence, though he stopped himself, aware this seadweller had a fair point. Karkat was pretty much universally aggressive, and he didn't often treat lowblooded trolls different than he did highblooded trolls. Sometimes he felt the need to act more submissive to highblooded trolls, but that was usually when he was frightened, and when flight seemed better than fight. But more the most part, he was rude to everyone; though that didn't mean it was a smart or effective choice. It often made trolls think of him as higher-blooded, though he concealed his blood color, but with seadwellers? He knew it was better to stay in his place around seadwellers, and to act more submissive. Not only was he very plainly beneath them, as a landweller, but seadwellers also tended to be much more aggressive, and would more easily turn to violence to put him back into his place. He'd taken too much of a chance running his mouth with this one, and it would be a good idea to stop.
Though... it didn't really feel like this seadweller had any intention of hurting him. Maybe the familiarity in him was suspicious, and sort of frightening, but it did also make him feel at ease, somehow... it made him feel like he knew the other, and knew him in a safe way, in a way that meant this seadweller wouldn't dare hurt him. But how could that even work? Clearly, this seadweller didn't know him either. They were strangers. It didn't make any sense that he might know him... perhaps he just resembled someone Karkat already knew, or had met a long time ago.
When the other confirmed that Karkat was welcome to leave he did, first walking to his sickle, then grabbing it and running away from where he was as quickly as he could manage. Once he got out of Karkat's own range, he would be free to shoot him, so Karkat needed to make the treeline and get cover if Eridan intended to do that. And he did, after a while, make it into the trees, where he stayed for the rest of his way back to Crabdad. But while he took precautions to make sure Eridan didn't try to hurt him, he... still didn't entirely think he would. It just didn't seem that likely.
And had he heard... sadness, in the seadweller's voice? Had he actually sounded genuinely sad that Karkat was leaving?! That didn't really make sense to him... but there was a lot going on, a lot of death, and maybe he was only lonely. He could have lost someone, especially being a seadweller... so many of them were dying, it wasn't too hard to imagine that one of them had been close to this troll. Or maybe he was, like many other trolls in the higher castes, simply unbalanced. Regardless of what it was, Karkat wasn't going to stick around because of it. He needed to leave, to worry about his own safety. And he couldn't be safe while also sticking around this troll. He had to get away from him.
When he got back to Crabdad and his things, he picked everything up and immediately moved off again, this time keeping near the shore, but in the opposite direction of where the seadweller had been. He had no logical way of knowing how safe the troll's advice really was, but that familiarity... he wanted to trust him, he really did. What reason did he have for lying, anyway? If he wanted Karkat dead, he would have shot him. And if Karkat wanted to get away from civilization, he could do it by moving away from it if he saw it. Eridan wouldn't kill him this way... And besides, it was mostly seadwellers that usually lived near water, and even then they preferred to stay way out into the ocean, far from the shore. Within swimming distance, maybe, but "swimming distance" could be pretty far for a seadweller. It made sense that a stretch of beach would be mostly deserted, and that too was one of the reasons Karkat had decided to walk along it. He'd come to that conclusion without Eridan's help.
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