Cherubplay

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Having already paid, Eridan wasted no time leading them out. With Vriska he nudged and occasionally shoved a path through the other patrons of the bar and their differing levels of intoxication. The further along they went the more difficult it got, but when he was determined nothing could impede Eridan's progress toward a goal. Eventually he reached the open air, and kept going toward their ship. He had to urge himself not to run, even though what he wanted more than anything at that moment was to get away from that bar.

Chill as ever, Gamzee stood like he was made of water. Sometimes he could flow all over the place instead of tripping over his own feet, and this was for better or worse one of those times. After ushering Karkat along behind their leaders, and waiting for Sollux, Kanaya, and Tavros to get moving, that left him in back. After all he wanted to keep his dearest Tavros and palest bro ahead of him and safe. Somehow even though he was used to being picked on he didn't think anyone would bother him here. Even though he had this ridiculous reputation that he didn't deserve, he expected it might come in handy to keep pests away in places they didn't know how non-aggressive he was.

Sollux would practically have to swim through the crowd, since the mess of bodies between them and their destination only seemed to get more rowdy as more of them left. Curiously enough all the nudging and pinching of their hardly their corridor was coming from folks with parts of a certain emblem on their chests. Soon enough all of their group (to their knowledge) were back outside on the porch, with far less people outside. Most all the pirates and sailors outside were mulling about their ships.

2015-10-11 04:01:30
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The amount of people were staggering; Tavros, coming from a lowly village in Alternia, mostly only saw a massive amount of people stuck in one place in the local market. It certainly had the same atmosphere: people yelling, cursing, and drinking, others tempting their patrons with gambles of all kinds, and, most importantly, it was definitely incredibly simple to get roped into something someone didn't want. It made him ache for the singularity of his old job or even the Screechlands. Somehow, being surrounded by people still felt as lonely as ever; even occasionally being with his friends made his existence feel stark and stagnant.

For a second, he closed his eyes - his thinkpan became flooded with detached images, as if he were flipping through the photographs of someone else's life. Tavros saw himself feeding birds or weeding rosebushes, and as he eased himself from the snapshots of days passed, he found himself peering up at Sollux and Kanaya. He wondered what it was like, through the daze he encountered of his quiet breathing and shifting stomach, to have a moirail; he imagined it was quite different to matespritship, but in what way, he could not conjure up. The affection was absolutely there, he saw it with every squeeze of a hand and every reciprocal laugh, but somehow, there was a calming affect that he felt that he could not reach. Karkat and Gamzee nudged the same sort of wondering out of him before, though the contemplation seemed tenfold now that there were two pairs of moirails about. His mind shifted again, this time to when he thought, briefly, that Vriska was inching into moiraillegence with him; even then, he was not entirely sure if the emotional movement was selfish on her part (or perhaps his, subconsciously) or just out of her hands in the sense that her heart did as it pleased. He had been there many times before, himself.

As they shuffled out towards to the porch, the same cold grip strangled his heart, his lungs, ripped his stomach wide open - something was wrong, somewhere, but his tawny eyes searched and his thin lips pursed and yet, it was still out of his reach. Sollux kept his eyes trained in front of him, sweeping from left to right to find danger before it had time to find them, though he hadn't any idea that the danger crept behind them.

Kanaya smiled, a hand resting against his shoulder, "You are close to giving yourself wrinkles with all that worrying you are doing."

2015-12-08 03:10:52
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Tavros' intuition was once again correct; there was something wrong, but already it was far too late to do anything about it. A number of the Midnight Crew sneaked behind them, waiting for the right moment.

Gamzee hugged Tavros gently from behind, walking along behind him carefully so they didn't get tripped up. It was a quick one anyways, with a kiss placed right on top of his dearest copperblood's head at the end. "Don't go gettin your worry on so hard, love. Almost to the ship now, and it ain't too far." For some time they all wandered forward without there being any apparent danger. However, as soon as they rounded the bend to the alcove their ship was in, the Crew made their move.

Coming at them from behind and from the side away from the ship, twice their number of black carapacians charged at them from whatever cover they had found. As soon as he saw them Gamzee nudged Tavros forward, propelling him toward the ship while making sure to keep his companion on his feet and accelerating. "Motherfucking run, motherfuckers!" he shouted, Karkat's head turning for only a second before he did just what Gamzee suggested, offering a hand to Tavros to help pull him along since he was sure his diamond could outrun them if he'd tried.

And the indigo could have easily, but that would mean leaving people he thought of as family behind him for his own safety. Instead he stayed in back, watching out for anyone tripping to help them up before they were grabbed. Of course this was his undoing, since the Carapacians were trained sailors used to hard work. The fastest of their number caught up with him and threw themself forward to knock him off balance. They were confident he wouldn't get too violent, since they had been given all the reports that the queen's men had gathered. More of the sailors swarmed toward the remainder of the party, Gamzee quickly lost to view.

2015-12-09 02:12:47
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And for a split moment, he felt somewhat assuaged; Gamzee was right, nothing was the matter, and he could see the ship just ahead of them. His friends were already starting to get towards the dip in the sand, and he, despite how he felt in his stomach, wanted to muster up a smile up at his loving matesprit. Instead, Tavros managed a nod, devoid of words for the moment, just placed a hand over Gamzee's arm when it wrapped around him and kept walking. He wouldn't feel safe until they were on the ship, and he guessed the feeling that he was experience was because they were in such a vastly foreign land. Pursing his lips, Tavros trudged through the sand, his eyes slightly squinted before he was pushed forward somewhat.

Whipping around, Vriska's first reaction was to draw her sword and present it to the enemy, though close range battle wasn't quite good with so many of her friends around. Tavros, frozen, did nothing to run immediately, simply watched in horror as the enemy surrounded them, the hand offered to him merely a point in his peripheral vision.

"Get the fuck up," was a phrase that felt like a should a million miles away, and he felt himself pulled up by one arm and pushed against Karkat, whose hand was in his and he couldn't remember taking it. Sheathing her sword, Vriska first ensured that Kanaya and Sollux were neither separated from each other or the group and on their way into the ship. She hadn't any worries about Eridan, as she always kept her eyes keen on her new matesprit, and as she was counting heads on the ship, (her beloved brownblooded captain was already aboard, eyes wide as dinner plates and shaking like a leaf in the wind) she turned once more as she climbed to see Gamzee pushed down by a Carapacian, and the screams of Tavros finally registered.

All the words that were stuck in his throat were smashed down by screeches of the violetblood's name, of pleas and begs and cries: "don't hurt him," "let him go," "don't kill him," "please, /please/ keep him alive-"

She saw it then, his desperation, as if he were to jump off the ship and go to the Carapacians himself. As she climbed, and ignored Tavros' angered yells as Sollux held him back, she saw the desperation on his face, the hysteria, and Vriska could practically read 'I cannot live without him' in his eyes.

"Tavros," She spoke softly as she stood on the deck of the ship, a whisper below his screams to "let me go, let HIM go," "You have to calm down."

"I c-can't!" He hissed, and Sollux tightened his grip on his arms, pulling Tavros' appendages behind him, "I can't, I can't, I can't-/Gamzee!/"

A gasp, a whimper, a scream, "I l-love you, /please/ don't die!"

2015-12-09 03:17:34
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Once they got aboard the ship minus one clown troll, Karkat turned around to make sure everyone was aboard, still holding onto the brownblood's hand like a lifeline. At first he was smiling, thinking they had narrowly escaped but then he saw Gamzee hit the sand meters away from the plank they'd laid down. His face fell, and the only thing that kept him from doing exactly what Tavros was doing was that the world seemed to tilt at a strange angle. Somehow he remained standing through the fit of vertigo, unaware that he was screaming the lost troll's name with all he had.

As all that was going on Eridan flew about the ship, yanking up the board before unfurling sails. The ship lurched forward, and Karkat was sent sprawling to the deck between that and his hand being yanked away by Sollux's restraint of Tavros. At first he got up quickly, staring after the spot his best friend had been in just moments before. The last thing they saw of the indigo was his hand reaching out for them, a terrified look on his face. But instead of saying something that made sense, like "Help!" or "Save me, please!" all that damned Makara could yell at them was "Run!"

How could he want them to leave him? Karkat couldn't understand, succumbing again to the lurch of the ship and his own dizziness. He held onto the railing of the ship and stared back at the shore, frozen.

Eridan, for his part, was as shaken as any of the rest of him but could act prudently enough to realize they had no chance of rescue at this point. And Gamzee had told them to run. It was what he wanted, to keep Tavros and the rest of them safe. He couldn't begin to imagine what Tavros was feeling, having his longest friend in the world taken away from him at such a critical venture. There was nothing he could offer in way of comfort, not having the first /clue/ where they might be taking him.

Instead he left the handling of the brownblood to Vriska. Maybe she wasn't the best for consoling him, but she cared, and Eridan could get them out of there on his own.

2015-12-09 04:13:42
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He screamed til he was hoarse, screamed til he was brown in the face, screamed until the tears choked him and he fell against Sollux's chest. Those familiar quick spurts of breath approached him, the hyperventilation of panic, and Vriska, her brows furrowed, watched him helplessly whisper for his love to return to him.

His tear-filled eyes darted around to his friends, wishing for them to turn the ship around, but everyone was frozen, tense, as if they could do nothing. "Why are we not turning around?" He demanded, and through his sadness he was angry, furious, "We have to save him!"

"Don't you care about him? He's our friend!" He continued, writhing against Sollux's stronger arms, and he glared down at the brownblood, remarking, "And how are we going to save him, Tavros? With some dumb luck and some emotion? Don't be naive."

With a growl, he pulled from Sollux's arm, though the yellowblood allowed him to, "So you, are totally fine with my matesprit, with Karkat's moirail, with our dearest companion, getting kidnapped by some unknown enemies?!"

"Of course I'm not!" He retorted, a red and blue crackle erupting from his irises as he ground his teeth together, "But /he/ made this decision, and saved your ungrateful ass in the process!"

Flinching at his tone, Tavros did not pull back but simply lurched forward in his argument, "You did not even /try/ to help him! You ran away! We all did, we're cowards!"

With an enraged growl, Vriska grabbed hold of Tavros' shoulder, yanking him towards her as her face neared hers; with sharpened teeth on display, she snarled, "I /never/ want to hear the word 'cowards' leave your mouth again, Nitram. Have you any idea what we've sacrificed just to ensure your pompous little sugar coated head is safe? Eridan and I left our homes, the only place we feel safe in; Sollux damn near lost his job and his home and can never be truly safe in the capital ever again; Karkat is in hiding and can never enjoy any tiny facets of this dumbfuck journey we're on because, oh, right, /he isn't supposed to exist/ and Kanaya's shop, her livelihood, her /home/ was obliterated before her very fucking eyes. And now you're upset because /your/ matesprit is gone? I have never seen anything so goddamn pathetic in my sweeps of living! If I /ever/ hear you call us cowards again, I won't hesitate to face you like an enemy and I will /not/ be kind in my punishment, do you understand? Don't devalue us, your family, because of one act, one tragedy - this only shows how much he - how much /we/ - care about you and the rest of this godforsaken, piece of shit country. Now get your entitled ass down to your room and rest."

In a mixture of odd encouragement, anger, and sadness, Tavros trudged along as he was told, and Vriska called after him, "Have more faith in Gamzee, why don't you? He'd never die this easily."

2015-12-09 04:59:56
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While heated words were being exchanged, Eridan set them on a course he knew would bring them closer to seadweller territory before pulling out his spyglass. Gazing behind them, he counted no ships setting sail behind them and watched as their dear companion was dragged away, still living since he was being forced to walk back with the group. Once Tavros had descended into the belly of the ship, he came back down to the main deck.

"It looks like they're takin him to one of the main ships," he said somberly. "Nobody's followin us, at least." He looked at all of them, sympathy crossing his face when his eyes reached Karkat's back, the mutant still clinging to the railing. "Wha' do we do now? Keep goin, or turn the fuck around somewhere? Fuckin..." Now that they were safe Eridan realized just how much this might change things, and started pacing anxiously without knowing. "He ain't gonna be alright. Tavros, I mean. Not for a while, but we can't just fuckin stop, and-and Gamzee's gonna be fuckin tortured or worse--" The handling he and Vriska had received in their short stint as prisoners crossed his mind in a flurry of unpleasant images.

His fist collided with the wall next to the door leading below decks hard enough that he ripped the skin away in the most prominent places. The pain took him out of the overwhelming visions and gave him something real to center on. "Ain't the same as before. Got no fuckin idea where the fuckin hell he might be taken," his voice warbled with frustrated emotion. "And now we just gotta keep goin like nothin fuckin happened at all."

"I know," a tiny voice said after a significant pause. "Probably."

2015-12-09 05:31:30
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"Every one of you, get rid of whatever bullshit ideas you've got floating around in your head!" The captain in her fired up, and Vriska put her hands on her hips, her lips set in a frown, "I know that things are different now - we don't know where Gamzee is, or what they're going to do to him. We are all worried about his wellbeing, as well as Tavros' and, hell, even our own. But you know what worrying /doesn't/ do? Solve shit." The only problem was, she didn't know how to solve things, either, and she wasn't the best and boosting morale.

Watching Eridan punch a wall, Karkat grip the railing for his dear life and Kanaya and Sollux waver and fall into each other, as they had always done, only made her resolve stronger and her desire to see everyone to happiness more prominent. "Here is what we are going to do. Eridan," She set her eyes on him, a shine of determination in them, "Do you think that you will be able to sniff out those trash Carapacians in the water? Or, at the very least, ask whatever other seadwellers are in these waters if they've noticed anything suspicious? Basically, I need you to do some investigative work and report back to me. Meanwhile," She turned to the rest, "We're going to steer towards a seadweller's port and gather weapons. I fully intend on rescuing Gamzee, but we need to get our own quackbeasts in a row before we go plowing in. So Karkat, I'd like you to tend to Tavros - since the two of you are in a similar emotional boat, I think he'll be able to open up more to you and come to terms with what's going on."

"As for you, Sollux, I need you to draft a letter to Princess Aradia and humbly request a pair of fifties."

Sollux pursed his lips, "...Two ships with fifty men each? You must be joking."

"We haven't the time for jokes, Mr. Architect. Create some elaborate ruse, pull that elusive White Rabbit in, whatever it takes. We're storming those bastards."

Kanaya frowned, "With only a hundred men? Do you think that will be enough?"

Vriska shook her head, "Not likely. But any more than that, and the Queen will blow a gasket; besides, if they see the Royal flag flying, they'll be less suspicious. They're more of a distraction than anything. Kanaya, I would like you to go ahead and begin the duties that Gamzee has left behind, as well as put together funds for the men that will soon be working below us. At the seadweller port, we three and Karkat or Eridan will all be working to recruit a man each for leadership purposes. Understood, everyone?"

2015-12-09 05:55:18
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The seadweller nodded, determination solidified and encouraged by something to do. "I'll do my best Captain!" he saluted her and went to prepare, soon enough coming back up to the deck in swimming gear and diving over the edge of the ship with a shout of "I'll probably be a while, don't wait up!" He was going to have quite the swim ahead of him, and not getting caught himself to worry about if he got too close. He shouldn't have to get near them, however, so he wasn't worried about himself. What he'd find out however, now that wasn't something he was looking forward to.

It took Karkat far longer to loosen his hold on the ship, worried the floor might fall out from under him again like it had seemed so intent on doing before. He was paler than he should be, like he'd seen about a hundred phantasms out of no where that had made it their mission to scare him into an early grave. The mutant hoped to all hell the information Eridan would bring back would negate his worries over the possible destination in store for his moirail. Without looking at anyone or saying anything he made his way into the belly of the ship, keeping a hand along the wall just in case. Once he was downstairs he knocked on Tavros' door and waited.

2015-12-09 06:18:14
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The few minutes he had spent in his room was agony; it still smelled like Gamzee inside, and he could smell him on his clothes, like he was being embraced all over again. Any time he attempted to rid his mind of what had happened in that span of a few moments, he could just hear Gamzee's voice, his assurances, feel his arms before he was stolen away from him. Curled against himself in the center of his bed, he sniffled and bit at his fingers, a nervous habit, before jerking to alertness at the knock to the door.

Desperately, he raced to the door, as if Gamzee would be there, even though he knew the violetblood wouldn't. Tavros, with his hand on the doorknob, swallowed thickly and forcefully reminded himself that his matesprit was gone forever, there was no way for him to return. The knob twisted within his palm, and he opened the door, sniffing once, "...Karkat."

2015-12-09 06:27:52
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Karkat reached in and patted Tavros' shoulder awkwardly. "We are assigned companionship in hopes that we don't go nuts or something. Who the fuck knows why they want a couple of sad sacks stuck together but whatever," he didn't feel like he had much energy for invective against everything right then.

"Anyways, they've got plans in the works to get him back," he sighed heavily. "Though... I suspect that's going to be fucking difficult. I hope Eridan finds out they aren't going where I think they are because if they are that's really fucking bad and ... I don't know if I can just sit around waiting. Fuck," Karkat took a deep breath and gazed at the ceiling to steady himself. "Anyways, they won't kill him, so we /can/ get him back. We're going to. Us. You and me, because we care a lot, and we have to," Karkat tried to put on a determined face.

2015-12-09 06:38:05
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Eyes closed, Tavros stepped out the room and shut the door, muttering that Karkat wouldn't want to be in there, considering how much it smelled like Gamzee. His eyes opened and, with a partial frown, he listened intently but wasn't sure what to make of the idea of rescuing Gamzee; as he had time to think, he figured that they didn't know anything about the enemy, and he knew even less about Vriska's military prowess. Still, she was excellent at deception and manipulation, so he guessed he should have more faith in her, but continued to be skeptical in his daze.

"I am sure, that the only thing we are able to do, is sit around and wait." He stated blankly, "What are, the two of us to do with our minimal, at best, physical strength and shaky emotional foundations? There is nothing that we - that /I/ - can do. I let them take him away, what good will I be now?"

2015-12-09 06:44:07
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The mutant's face twitched, anger at the hopelessness of his moirail's matesprit! How could he be so defeatist? His fury at the situation, at the carapacians that had taken Gamzee from them, all lit up as bright as his blood when he heard Tavros talk so. Somewhere in the back of his mind Gamzee's voice cautioned him not to light in to Tavros too much, since, well, he wouldn't have liked that one bit. Couldn't have his best bros fighting, could he? So Karkat did manage to be more restrained than he otherwise would have been.

"So you're just going to give the fuck up?" Karkat hissed. "Just gonna let him rot wherever the fuck they're taking him because, oh, you can't smash somebody with a fucking battle axe? I might be emotionally unhinged, but I'm going to do my fucking best, gods damn it all! You've got some fucking magic, figure out if it's got any defensive application, or learn some other fucking weapon that doesn't require brute force. That you think you had any fucking say in what the fuck those bastards did is ludicrous! Just because you're the fucking Alice doesn't mean you have control over anything at all that other people choose to do, so stop fucking blaming yourself for him getting taken away!" Whoops, he might have escalated that more than he'd planned.

2015-12-09 07:01:51
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Rather than flinch at his words and recede into himself, Tavros tensed, his brows furrowed as he yelled in return, "Do you think that I /enjoy/ being useless? Even if I learn, a million battle strategies and weapons, when it comes down to it, I am /nothing/ compared to those brutes! If I were to go, and attempt my hardest to fight for him, like I want to, I would only get in the way and slaughtered in the process. W-without this title, without being /Alice,/ there is no purpose to me. And the way I am now, I will only, shame him further and let him down again."

"I want nothing more than to use these powers," Came his whisper, and he stared down at his hands, small gray palms upturned as he traced the curves and lines in them. Tavros knew he was useless to most everyone, and that he had put them all in danger with his coming to Wonderland, even if it wasn't really his fault to begin with. Still, he knew that he'd need much more training and time than they had to pose any threat to the Carapacians, and he'd be too much of a valuable to be stolen, posing as a liability. If the Carapcians got their hands on Tavros, he'd immediately be sold off to the highest, sickest bidder, and that would make their entire situation worse. "But I cannot. No matter, what I do, how hard I concentrate or, uh, try, I canno make anything happen. It is something natural that I believe will manifest by itself. Which makes me even more useless, than before."

2015-12-09 07:16:30
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"You are a fool if you think Gamzee would ever have the capacity to feel any sort of shame because of something like that. But I am going to be extremely disappointed if you don't even /try/ to do anything at all. Fuck being useless; tell good sense or whatever the fuck is making you think that to go fuck itself on a cactus! Crazy unexpected shit happens every godsdamn day, but moping is sure not to do shit no matter what. So fucking /try/ to do /anything/ I don't care what. But that crap about always remaining useless no matter what is a load of fucking horseshit!"

Karkat's rage was simmering on just under a boil now, so at least he wasn't going to go completely ballistic. "Tons of impossible shit has happened on your fucking journey, so don't fucking give up hope that even more can't happen. All his stupid talk about miracles--" Karkat choked, a singular sob escaping his control. "Fuck this, I'm going to go eat my frustrations and look some shit up," he turned away and stomped off to retrieve whatever they'd brought with them from the records, looking for some specific blueprints before heading to the kitchen with whatever he could find.

2015-12-09 22:08:09
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He watched him leave, jaw set and his eyes burning in a mix of emotions that he couldn't control. It was a terrible idea to send him down there to talk to him, but Tavros guessed hearing other opinions was meant to push his ass into working order again. He frowned deeply and receded into his bedroom again, cringing at the smell of the room but ignoring it for favor of wallowing - he needed time to cope, he supposed, but he felt so raw and devoid of emotion that he was unsure if he could.

Meanwhile, on the deck, Vriska was pouring over maps; she was a proper captain by most accounts, but she did some things unconventionally. For one, she laid on her stomach on the deck, her eyes scanning the eight maps spread out in front of her as Sollux sat off to her right, a quill in his hand. They'd either send the letter from the deck via carrier bird or from the port, but Vriska hoped that the sooner, the better.

In the kitchen, Kanaya pouted some to herself as she read a cookbook and tried to keep her mind off Gamzee. She had a hard time believing he would die, after all, the White Rabbit had basically ensured that time line's success and that everyone would stay alive. Still, that didn't mean that he wouldn't be hurt or heavily maimed, but she cast those thoughts out of her mind. The dishes she was best at making were full of carbs and more comfort food than anything else, but she doubted that eating heavy foods would help them spring into action when the time called for it. "Ah...what a time this is," She muttered to herself, her black lips letting a sigh slip past them.

2015-12-09 23:08:50
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"No shit," Karkat grumbled, scrubbing at his eyes as he dropped what he was carrying on the kitchen table. He grabbed a plate and sliced a small piece of the last cake Gamzee had made them, not giving even one shit if he ruined his dinner. It was more of a gesture than hunger, something the damn clown had poured love into. Karkat felt like he needed to remember that to keep from going off at anyone else.

It didn't keep him from sniffling while he ate, though, distracting himself from his own misery by pouring over the maps of the tunnels he'd pulled out. The first thing he did was lay them out in order, noting a couple things on a sheet of paper about the length of tunnel he'd been held in, and measuring distances. The tunnel charts he laid over a map of the capital city, drawing comparisons of where they had been noted to end with hypotheticals of his own on a couple other extra sheets for above and below ground.

Drawing a conclusion he sighed and indulged in what was left of the slice of cake, though he didn't look at all happy about it. Karkat double-checked his work for mistakes, and cursed.

2015-12-09 23:25:19
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Kanaya, mostly, left him alone, but she did keep her eye on him from time to time as she cooked. It was a light soup, something chock full of veggies for essential nutrition, but enough flavor to keep whoever it was eating it interested. She glanced to him from time to time, figuring that it had to have been a hefty responsibility to be a one-man support group for Tavros and vice versa; she was surprised that Vriska hadn't switched her own role with Karkat. Surely he would feel more at ease sorting through his feelings while he cooked, and Kanaya comforted others as easy as breathing. Vriska must have had her reasons, but for the life of Kanaya, she couldn't figure them out or, at least, think they were worthy enough of the decision.

"So," She began when she heard him curse, "How are you doing?" She would have inquired as to how Tavros was doing, but she doubted that the cherryblood wanted to go into depth about someone that was just as emotionally unstable as he was.

2015-12-12 02:21:31
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"Fucking awful, but not as bad as at least two other people right now." At least that's what he thought since now that he'd gotten through the initial panic attack he was back to being active, unlike the distraught Tavros and imprisoned Gamzee. "I need Eridan to get back here already. Fucking goddamn it all." He hopped up from his seat at the table, having finished his self-assigned task and needing something else to occupy him.

"Soup?" he observed, clearing off a different counter top and pulling out ingredients. "Bread of some sort would be good to go with that, right? So I'll help." What a great excuse, he rolled his eyes at himself, but quickly got to work. He knew Kanaya wanted more information about what had been going on below decks, so while he combined what he needed he talked. "So, Tavros is fucking inconsolable as far as I can tell, but I'm an abrasive piece of shit so what the fuck do I know," he said, turning the mostly formed wad onto a floured counter top so he could knead it.

Karkat's version of kneading right then was more like beating the shit out of it, however. "He's fucking blaming himself, and calling us both useless because hopelessness is very fucking popular apparently, because whatever we do those bastards are going to be too strong, so what's even the point in trying, he says. Which I just /cannot/ comprehend because if I don't try I'll kick my own ass because if I don't every see that stupid honking bastard ever again then it doesn't seem like there's a point to any of this right now," he sighed heavily, relocating the thoroughly pulverized dough so it could rise.

2015-12-12 03:25:32
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"In his defense, he /did/ try to wrestle out of the hold of the most solemnly scary yellowblood Wonderland has ever did see," She smiled half heartedly, though did thank him quietly for his help with the bread. Kanaya stirred absentmindedly, feeling as though she were the mother of two fighting boys, cooking dinner while their father was at work. It made her feel more domestic than she was used to and it did serve to lighten her spirits minimally, but her attention focused back to Karkat as she listened. "Hm. I can understand why you are angry with him - it appears as though you have much more of the fighting spirit than Tavros does. I am sure his feelings stem from guilt; you two have very different roles in Gamzee's life, and, because of that, your relationship with him is not the same. As his matesprit, and with the added title as Alice, I am under the impression that Tavros felt as though he needed to protect Gamzee in any way he could. And the one moment that he truly needed to...he could not."

Taking a sip of the soup from the ladle, she continued stirring, only adding a few more spices and whatnot, "That is not to discredit your own feelings; you have every right to be angry with him, but, I think, rather than blowing up on him in a time of very high, very /tense/ emotions, you should be more understanding. You know as well as I do that he would like to storm in on those Carapacians and swoop in to save the man he loves, but he is fumbling to protect what family remains. Namely, you." She smiled comfortingly, "Tavros is the observant type, like Sollux; do you honestly believe that he enjoys sitting idly by, or would like for you to go in, guns blazing? His words may not make complete sense, but the emotions are there, and he cares about you, dear. And I am sure you care about him, too."

2015-12-12 05:07:39
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Karkat took all that in, absorbed it, and he got it but something wasn't quite... "I'm not angry at Tavros," he assured her. "I just don't get where he's coming from. I've sat around for so long doing nothing without any options that I want to do what I can. I know I was completely useless when he was being taken but I thought--" Karkat looked like he cringed, but was really just trying to keep himself from crying, " I thought he would keep up. I know he can fucking run probably faster than any of us, but he just... didn't."

"Do you think he's thinking more about what he could have done, where I'm concentrating more on what /could/ happen?" It made sense, because Karkat knew what the possibilities were and how that might affect a person through some personal experience of his own. So far as Karkat knew Tavros had never spent any time in a cell.

And of course Karkat cared about them all, and knew Tavros did too, just like the copperblood had made it clear that if he felt like he could do something he definitely would have.

-------

Above decks, Eridan returned just as the sun was setting. He climbed aboard the ship, breathing heavily from swimming so far and long. The seadweller flopped onto the deck near his matesprit, catching his breath and letting his muscles relax after all that tailing he'd done. "I got a couple fronds followin the ship to make sure their course is reelly where they look to be goin," he told her, "because it doesn't make a lick of sense to me. We don't got fuckin slaves in Wonderland, so I thought they'd take him into foreign human waters."

2015-12-12 06:18:00
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With a mother's touch, Kanaya placed a sweet kiss to Karkat's hair before standing straight with a mild sense of satisfaction; it was nice to have Karkat come to the conclusion she already knew about the two of them, then placed a top over the soup to let it simmer for an hour or two. "Of course Tavros focused on what he /could/ have done. He feels as though he is our leader, and, in many ways, he rightfully is. But from what I understand, he takes this role incredibly seriously, to the point that he thinks that he must keep us together. Gamzee disrupted this balance, even if it was for the greater good, and I am thinking that Tavros is having a hard time coping with this."

"I think he just needs some cheering up so he can come back as the Tavros we know and love," Kanaya undid the apron wrapped around her body, hanging it on a peg near to the stove before placing her hands on her hips, "The thought that he is useless to us could not be farther from the truth; just because he may not be inclined to violence does not make him useless, just as you are not useless to any of us, either."

----

With an arch of her eyebrow, Vriska peered down at her matesprit, sitting up from her laying down position to push back a few strands of wet hair stuck to his forehead. "Mmh. I don't know much about human waters at all," She pursed her lips, wondering if they'd need more than just the two ships; she didn't want to ask for much, otherwise it would be suspicious and if the Queen caught wind of it, she'd be furious. A pair of fifty men ships was more like an investigative move rather than an offensive one, and it would appear like protocol, not a specific move. "...Do you think the timeouts about those rebel humans are actually true? It's a definite long shot to try to bank on them, but," She sighed, "It was a long shot to rely on those men from the capital to begin with. The Knights should be back by now so all of Wonderland wouldn't be focused on their naval forces, thankfully. Now would be the best time to slip out some men under a ruse of securing Wonderlandian waters, but I am still apprehensive."

With a hand on her chin, she stared down at her maps, frowning, "If they do not take him to human waters, where else would they go? Carapacians are such a minority in Wonderland that they're hard to track in movement, much less find where they're stationed."

"Captain," Sollux began rolling up papers and placing quills in appropriate places, "I've finished the draft of the request, if you'd like to review it."

"Let Karkat review it, he's better with words than I am. Make sure he keeps an eye out for the way it /sounds/ and its presentation. We all know that their bunch is as superficial as it gets." Sollux nodded at her words, then stops and took all his things below decks. She looked to Eridan again, expectant but still sympathetic to his condition; he'd gone above and beyond to complete her order and she was thankful for it, "Tell me everything in detail."

2015-12-12 16:18:27
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Kanaya was right, of course, and comforted like a total pro, but Karkat was caught up in so many thoughts he didn't manage to show his thanks right away. At first he just nodded understanding before shuttling contemplations his own usefulness and their group's immediate future to the side so he could get up the energy to hug Kanaya around the waist tightly. "I'm sorry that I'm such a fucking wriggler and you're too good at being the lusus-friend of our dysfunctional rainbow conglomerate."

He refused to let himself get any more emotional in front of anyone if he could help it, and hiding his face in her shoulder kind of helped. "I don't know if I /should/ talk to Tavros anymore, but I could try later," he mumbled. "Maybe if I chill the fuck out we could actually commiserate," he smiled a little. Gamzee always told him to "chill the fuck out" when he was acting irate.

------

"I still think that's a good idea, Vris. At least we could try, but if they're coming from the capital they might not have very far to go if the ships keep heading where they are.... We could always try to get word to the Zodiac, too. I know Tavros don't like their methods much, but it seems like we need to take our gloves off for this one. That they outnumber us and are far more trained than most of our group is also something. An' didn't Gamzee meet that one representative of theirs? Maybe they'd take it as a personal tie," he almost laughed. It sounded far-fetched, but they would probably be reliable in a fight, so the seadweller thought they should definitely reach out. "Can't say shit about any rebel humans. We could try gettin' them on board, too. Maybe that'd give us a bigger pool to swim in."

Eridan sighed before talking again, making sure he had breath enough to tell Vriska everything from the beginning. "So, I went to the docks to see what the fuck they were doing with Gamzee, and from what I could tell they put him on the flagship of the leader's ship. There are four of them in cahoots, and the on with the spade--the one sitting outside--seemed to be top dog among them from how they were all acting. Which seems kind of... too convenient..." Eridan diverged, "he was the only one who got a good look at all of us."

"Anyways, so they loaded him on this ship, none too gently, and shoved him in the brig. Well, I did climb to the port holes, and watched 'em stick him in a cell. He's got some bruises, but honestly looks like he's doing better emotionally then us. They taunted him a lil while I was there, but he didn't really react much aside from makin' his ass comfortable. Then I had to dive in again 'cause they started gettin' loaded up the rest of the way an' mighta seen me. There weren't much else for captured trolls on the Spade's ship, not like the other three. Ones on his seemed more... beefy or reputable for violence. The other ones I poked my head in seemed like they were all carryin' normal trolls."

"Anyways, they got themselves goin' and those three groups all seemed they'd be goin the way I thought; deeper in human territory along Western waters, fill up their ships before getting where they needed. But the fuckin Spades... they got themselves goin' back toward the fuckin' Capital!" he frowned fiercely. "Got themselves going back to Wonderland. I dunno, you think it's some trap? They know we got a ship and way of tailing them, maybe they're getting clever and plan to meet up later, or got some reserves in Starnette so we'll be more fuckin outnumbered when we catch up. But I found some other seadwellers and they're keepin an eye on them for me so we'll know any fuckin obvious plans they look to be makin."

2015-12-18 02:02:35
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The hug surprised her some, but she returned it, always glad for some affection from one friend to another. "Do not be so self-defeating," She soothed, petting his hair with a delicate hand, "It has been a stressful time, and you are holding it all together quite nicely." Better than her; she was mostly just riding the waves of Vriska's leadership, but she figured she'd be upset once she was alone.

"There is no rush with someone like him," She decided, but smiled warmly at his verbatim use of Gamzee's words and tucked a short lock of hair behind Karkat's ear, "Take things slowly, wait for tensions to ease up some. I am sure he will feel more like himself once we get things in motion around here to get Gamzee back."

---

"I am apprehensive about Zodiac less because of Tavros, and more because of their main enemy," She played with strands of her hair thoughtfully, her brows furrowed as she sat up now, legs crossed at the ankle. "Zodiac's usual opposing force is HUED. Which means, if we call in Zodiac, what are the chances that HUED gets involved, if at all? It's not like this rescue mission can be completed in a couple of days."

"And the fact that they're taking Gamzee in the direction of the capital is way more concerning. The rest of the ships have trolls to sell for slaves, that is easy enough to assume," She picked up the pencil she had been using to trace potential sea routes on the maps in front of her, writing down in the corner of one of her maps a few notes for her to remember her thoughts, "But what use would they have for him the capital?"

Rubbing at her eyes, she tried to think of what was in the capital that would be of immediate terror: "Do you think it is likely that they'll detain him in Starnette? Maybe put him in the tunnels? I can't find that likely, considering we /did/ get out Karkat with not too much trouble..." Torture, now that she had gotten out of it alive and with her matesprit still intact, she found it more as something to fuel her desire to overthrow the government, something to learn and grow from, "The Knights have returned to Starnette. The White Rabbit, for all we know, is out and about, and he is used for all of the major decisions on Starnette, so maybe they'll just keep him around in a dungeon or cell?" As infuriating as he could be, the White Rabbit made most of the larger decisions in conjunction with the Queen and Parliament, and without him around, Vriska was unsure what turn Starnette could take. "I doubt it's a trap. Carapacians, like any good seafarers, aren't stupid enough to waste manpower and supplies, even if they just restocked, on some semi-fruitful deception. It doesn't seem plausible to me; any captain worth his gold won't put his men on a wild goose chase, and not with human cargo, either." Not only did they have to feed their men, they had to feed the potential slaves, as well. There had to have been a reason for going to the Capital. "I fully suspect they're going to give Gamzee over to the Queen as means of solidifying their relationship. I would even go so far as to say that they may even ask for Knights on their ships. It would make getting more lowblooded slaves even easier."

"There's so much money to be made selling slaves to the humans," She knew it was upwards in gold for even a midblood, but slavery was still a vastly unknown subject to her, "We should draft a letter to Zodiac, too, but only the people we've met and their closest men. If this gets out of hand, it'll inevitably land at the Queen's doorstep, and we can't have her sticking her nose any more where it doesn't belong. Besides, we could put Princess Aradia in a compromising situation, and we may need her help even more in the future."

2015-12-18 04:11:42
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"Thanks, Kanaya. I'm going to try and relax or something while the bread rises," he hugged her a little tighter for a moment before letting go, doing his best to give her a smile before he went to the cabin he was sleeping in. Really he felt like going and collapsing in Gamzee's bed, but Tavros was in there and that would look entirely too strange to be explainable.

However, he got almost as good when shuffling down the corridor into his. Apparently the clown had left one of his sweaters on a chair in Karkat's cabin after they'd had a short jam session in the past few days.

The allure of the article of clothing was unfathomable. Karkat knew it was a horrible idea he'd had but did it anyways, slipping it over his head to be enveloped in the lingering scent of moirail. He knew he had to be imagining it, but it felt warm all around him, and he pressed the cuffs to his face and breathed deeply. His knees gave out, luckily he was close enough so just ended up sitting on the edge of his bed.

------------

"Yeah, we don't want those bastards involved," Eridan agreed. "Keeping who knows small is strategic. That way who we don't want to know will be less likely to find out. I doubt they'd put him in the tunnels as well... perhaps if he is going to Starnette the Princess could find out what's happened to him through her own devices or confidants she might have in the palace. That would definitely be a help if he is there."

"I suppose we'll be relying on the Rabbit to keep him at least alive. He knows too much to not know about something, right? So while he won't explain shit, at least we can rely on him to /know/. So even if there's some other hidden spot, like the tunnels, he'd know about it and perhaps give us a clue. Maybe Aradia could talk to him, since there doesn't really seem a way to get directly in contact with his shifty ass." Eridan didn't like relying on other people, but they didn't have much of a choice in this case.

"The Queen will know who he is, which is worrying. What could she want with them, though? And all those other fighter types... is she trying to devise some sort of disposable fighting force for herself?" He thought of the possibilities of battle before anything else, finding war tactics easier to comprehend than all the shadowy social elements of politics. "At least there's only the Spade's little fleet to worry about, instead of all four of them."

2015-12-18 05:16:35