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Guilt was the only thing he could feel for the walk; the guilt of not talking to Dave before he left. Or at least not telling Arturo to talk to Dave for him. He huffed as he stepped under a tree, hiding from anything that could be aerial. He hadn't gotten a chance to look through the bag on his back. He wanted to meet this Kankri person first before he could look through the bag so he wasn't ambushed easily. His legs ached as he sighed, "How much farther north do I have to go before I can get to that damn place?" He looked north as he began walking, not expecting something to bite at his leg and pull him from the ground. Karkat flails, feeling his backpack drop and him fidgeting. "What the fuck!" He looks down, gulping and trying to reach for the backpack. "Shit, shit, shit, shit."
He heard twigs snapping from behind him, his hair standing up on the back of his neck. "Fuck me." Someone laughs, the snapping getting louder before he feels a hand on his back. "Do you realize that you're not walking north? You're walking northwest, and now we're around 20 miles from the Whickerman Stronghold it could've been 10 if you used your compass and walked directly north." He looked up, meeting with another pair of red eyes. He has a red long sleeve as well as a black pair of pants and black boots. "I hadn't gotten the chance to look through my bag, so I didn't know there was a compass in there."
"Boy, someone was eager to give you this position. They didn't train you or even tattoo you," he sat down next to the suspended man, "I suppose I will teach you lesson one." Karkat looked to him, "Are you kidding me? Can you cut me down before I die?" His plea fell on deaf ears as the other opened the bag. "Lesson one; always check your supplies to see how long you can actually last out here. Let's go through a thorough rundown of what is in your supply bag and why it should be useful to get you down from there." Karkat shook his head, "Man, do not do this, please. I will do whatever you say from now on as long as we can get to the Whickerman Stronghold before we get mauled alive by werewolves or a fucking six-legged bear. I don't know how long I can survive like this, dude. Please, let me down and as soon as you and I are safe, I will listen to anything you say."
"Anything?" He said, "Alrighty, then, Karkat. Lesson two is this," he reaches into the bag with a red package in hand bound by twine. He pulled the twine from it and carefully pulled out two sickles. He stood as he reached high and, with a flick of the wrist, backed away as Karkat fell to the ground with a thud. "Never let me get my way entirely." Karkat wheezed, looking up to him. "How do you know my name?" The man held out his hand, "Would it help you if you knew my name?"
"No, because I can figure that your name is Kankri," Karkat took it, holding his shoulder as he was pulled up. "And I wouldn't have let you die; it takes 20 hours to kill someone by suspending them upside down." Karkat picked the bag up, zipping it shut and slinging it over his back. "Geez, Kankri, how did you figure I would be here?"
"Skaia radioed into the north that you're heading the wrong way," Kankri mentioned as he pointed to a direction. "East is this way and the only way we can get there before nightfall is either tree top or flying." Karkat focused on the direction, finding more trees in his path. "What if we had a faster way?"
"That's why I thought of flying and tree top, Karkat," Kankri crossed his arms, "What are you thinking about?"
"Magic," Karkat shoved his hand into his pocket, pulling out a booklet. "I know like three spells, and one of them is pretty much teleportation." He looked through it, "All I need to know is where Ellensburg is and a clearing that can fit the both of us in. I think I have the rest of the supplies."
"Magic?" Kankri looked at him with wide eyes, "Magic attracts Alternians as light attracts moths, Karkat. What is your plan?" Karkat cracked his neck. "We go from here to Ellensburg. It cuts 8 miles out of our trip within seconds. We get the hell out of there by going north a-and snap our direction from the north towards the Whickerman Stronghold as fast as we can and hope magic doesn't trail." Kankri raised an eyebrow. "Magic is a delicate subject; anything can happen and I, myself, am not very knowledgeable about the subject."
"I know that you can't be nervous and that you have to make sure you're pronouncing it correctly. One mispronunciation and you might be a fucking bee." Kankri gulped, "Well, I can do one of those things." Karkat nodded, "Help me make a clearing that has a diameter of- what- 5 feet?" Kankri nodded as he looked to the ground, something catching his eye. "Does it have to be on the earth or no?"
"Just a clearing that can be easy to make symbols in," Karkat murmured, "Why?" He looked up, Kankri pointing at a tree stump. "It has to pass the test. Can both of us be on it at once?" He stood and dragged Kankri onto it, standing chest to chest to him. "Okay, we can do the thing here, but it puts you to the next step. Karkat opened the booklet to a page, "Do you think you can carve this into the stump?" Kankri looked to it, "Why is there a fire symbol on it?"
"When it does lure others to here, it's damaged to the point of no return and unusable. Carve it, please." Karkat opened his bag, looking around as he pulled out one of the sickles. "You can use this if you want," He shook his head, "I have my own knife, thank you. Those sickles aren't for cutting, they're more of a fighting utensil, and from the look on the Alternian engraving, they were used in battle. From my perspective, they're about 35 years old and they're able to do serious damage. If I'm right, we want to keep the blades sharp." Kankri knelt in front of the stump. "Karkat, the markings on this drawing seem like they have to be exact."
"Try to get it as close as possible. If the circles are coming out as octagons, then they can be octagons. Just make sure you spell the word"s correctly or else it won't work." Karkat searched through the bag, pulling out flint rocks. "Know where any brush is?" He hummed as he looked around, "Wait. That was a stupid question. We're in the forest, so I'll look around."
"Of course," Kankri said as he pulled the knife out, starting to carve a circle. "Remember, no burning dry leaves!"
"It snowed yesterday. There're no dry leaves around. Where am I gonna find something to burn?"
"Some of the pages on here are blank. Would you want to burn these?" Karkat shook his head, looking around. "We have any gasoline?" He waited for an answer. "Was that another dumb question?" He heard him hum in response, Karkat furrowed his eyebrows. "Can we burn my shirt? I have two." Karkat looked to him, "I have more black tees back under my cot back in Skaia." Kankri shrugged, "If you're willing to make the sacrifice." Karkat nodded as he looked down, "Well, I'm done."
"I have another knife. Carve with me." Karkat got to his feet and walked to the stump, dropping to his knees and looking down to the stump. "Knife me." Kankri looked to him, handing him his. "Here. I can't write Alternian while messing up." Karkat nodded as he looked to it, "Yeah, I can write Alternian. Just tell me what it says." Kankri nodded, "Combustio. That's the only thing that's written."
"Because our names go into the other two slots," Karkat said as he carved his name into the stump. "Spell your name for me." Kankri nodded, "Well, it's how it sounds, but if you insist. It's K-A-N-K-R-I." Karkat nodded as he started to carve his name in the wood, then moving onto his. Kankri looked to him as he moved onto the Latin word. "Get ready to transport." Kankri nodded as moved to the center, etching flames into the wood. "Do we catch on fire when it does?" Karkat shrugged, "I don't know, man. I can't give you a scientific explanation to magic. It's the point to magic. It does it magically." Karkat finished the flames and started to take his shirt off, standing up and grabbing his bag. "Do I need to wrap those sickles back up?" Kankri shrugged as Karkat stuck the sickles together and shoved it in the red cloth, tying it quickly before he shoved it in the bag. "Put the shirt on the stump and stand on top of it." He threw him the bag and shirt towards Kankri as he pulled the flint together. He waited for Kankri putting the shirt over the stump, Karkat standing on the stump with his back towards Kankri. "I have to light the shirt. Get on." He felt his partner's back on him, he looking down and gulping. "Are you ready?"
"I've never dared mess with any sort of magic. I suppose I am."
"Okay," Karkat looked to the flintstones and started to strike them, "Combustio." He watched the sparks fall onto the black cloth, it igniting and flames coming up around them.
He felt cold. It wasn't a surprise when the fire had ceased, leaving them in the cold, dark night. "Kankri are you with me still?" He looked behind him, humming. "Kankri, we need to high tail it. You there?"
"Yes." Karkat turned around, he realizing they're in a clearing of ash. "I guess they moved west." Kankri spun around, holding the backpack as he looked to Karkat. "Do I have eyebrows still? They don't feel like they're there." Karkat sighed as he pushed Kankri's hair away from his forehead. "Yes Kankri, your eyebrows are still there. We have to hightail it because everything that can sense magic will come here from it being a literal beacon of "Hey, there's higher-level demons here."
He heard twigs snapping from behind him, his hair standing up on the back of his neck. "Fuck me." Someone laughs, the snapping getting louder before he feels a hand on his back. "Do you realize that you're not walking north? You're walking northwest, and now we're around 20 miles from the Whickerman Stronghold it could've been 10 if you used your compass and walked directly north." He looked up, meeting with another pair of red eyes. He has a red long sleeve as well as a black pair of pants and black boots. "I hadn't gotten the chance to look through my bag, so I didn't know there was a compass in there."
"Boy, someone was eager to give you this position. They didn't train you or even tattoo you," he sat down next to the suspended man, "I suppose I will teach you lesson one." Karkat looked to him, "Are you kidding me? Can you cut me down before I die?" His plea fell on deaf ears as the other opened the bag. "Lesson one; always check your supplies to see how long you can actually last out here. Let's go through a thorough rundown of what is in your supply bag and why it should be useful to get you down from there." Karkat shook his head, "Man, do not do this, please. I will do whatever you say from now on as long as we can get to the Whickerman Stronghold before we get mauled alive by werewolves or a fucking six-legged bear. I don't know how long I can survive like this, dude. Please, let me down and as soon as you and I are safe, I will listen to anything you say."
"Anything?" He said, "Alrighty, then, Karkat. Lesson two is this," he reaches into the bag with a red package in hand bound by twine. He pulled the twine from it and carefully pulled out two sickles. He stood as he reached high and, with a flick of the wrist, backed away as Karkat fell to the ground with a thud. "Never let me get my way entirely." Karkat wheezed, looking up to him. "How do you know my name?" The man held out his hand, "Would it help you if you knew my name?"
"No, because I can figure that your name is Kankri," Karkat took it, holding his shoulder as he was pulled up. "And I wouldn't have let you die; it takes 20 hours to kill someone by suspending them upside down." Karkat picked the bag up, zipping it shut and slinging it over his back. "Geez, Kankri, how did you figure I would be here?"
"Skaia radioed into the north that you're heading the wrong way," Kankri mentioned as he pointed to a direction. "East is this way and the only way we can get there before nightfall is either tree top or flying." Karkat focused on the direction, finding more trees in his path. "What if we had a faster way?"
"That's why I thought of flying and tree top, Karkat," Kankri crossed his arms, "What are you thinking about?"
"Magic," Karkat shoved his hand into his pocket, pulling out a booklet. "I know like three spells, and one of them is pretty much teleportation." He looked through it, "All I need to know is where Ellensburg is and a clearing that can fit the both of us in. I think I have the rest of the supplies."
"Magic?" Kankri looked at him with wide eyes, "Magic attracts Alternians as light attracts moths, Karkat. What is your plan?" Karkat cracked his neck. "We go from here to Ellensburg. It cuts 8 miles out of our trip within seconds. We get the hell out of there by going north a-and snap our direction from the north towards the Whickerman Stronghold as fast as we can and hope magic doesn't trail." Kankri raised an eyebrow. "Magic is a delicate subject; anything can happen and I, myself, am not very knowledgeable about the subject."
"I know that you can't be nervous and that you have to make sure you're pronouncing it correctly. One mispronunciation and you might be a fucking bee." Kankri gulped, "Well, I can do one of those things." Karkat nodded, "Help me make a clearing that has a diameter of- what- 5 feet?" Kankri nodded as he looked to the ground, something catching his eye. "Does it have to be on the earth or no?"
"Just a clearing that can be easy to make symbols in," Karkat murmured, "Why?" He looked up, Kankri pointing at a tree stump. "It has to pass the test. Can both of us be on it at once?" He stood and dragged Kankri onto it, standing chest to chest to him. "Okay, we can do the thing here, but it puts you to the next step. Karkat opened the booklet to a page, "Do you think you can carve this into the stump?" Kankri looked to it, "Why is there a fire symbol on it?"
"When it does lure others to here, it's damaged to the point of no return and unusable. Carve it, please." Karkat opened his bag, looking around as he pulled out one of the sickles. "You can use this if you want," He shook his head, "I have my own knife, thank you. Those sickles aren't for cutting, they're more of a fighting utensil, and from the look on the Alternian engraving, they were used in battle. From my perspective, they're about 35 years old and they're able to do serious damage. If I'm right, we want to keep the blades sharp." Kankri knelt in front of the stump. "Karkat, the markings on this drawing seem like they have to be exact."
"Try to get it as close as possible. If the circles are coming out as octagons, then they can be octagons. Just make sure you spell the word"s correctly or else it won't work." Karkat searched through the bag, pulling out flint rocks. "Know where any brush is?" He hummed as he looked around, "Wait. That was a stupid question. We're in the forest, so I'll look around."
"Of course," Kankri said as he pulled the knife out, starting to carve a circle. "Remember, no burning dry leaves!"
"It snowed yesterday. There're no dry leaves around. Where am I gonna find something to burn?"
"Some of the pages on here are blank. Would you want to burn these?" Karkat shook his head, looking around. "We have any gasoline?" He waited for an answer. "Was that another dumb question?" He heard him hum in response, Karkat furrowed his eyebrows. "Can we burn my shirt? I have two." Karkat looked to him, "I have more black tees back under my cot back in Skaia." Kankri shrugged, "If you're willing to make the sacrifice." Karkat nodded as he looked down, "Well, I'm done."
"I have another knife. Carve with me." Karkat got to his feet and walked to the stump, dropping to his knees and looking down to the stump. "Knife me." Kankri looked to him, handing him his. "Here. I can't write Alternian while messing up." Karkat nodded as he looked to it, "Yeah, I can write Alternian. Just tell me what it says." Kankri nodded, "Combustio. That's the only thing that's written."
"Because our names go into the other two slots," Karkat said as he carved his name into the stump. "Spell your name for me." Kankri nodded, "Well, it's how it sounds, but if you insist. It's K-A-N-K-R-I." Karkat nodded as he started to carve his name in the wood, then moving onto his. Kankri looked to him as he moved onto the Latin word. "Get ready to transport." Kankri nodded as moved to the center, etching flames into the wood. "Do we catch on fire when it does?" Karkat shrugged, "I don't know, man. I can't give you a scientific explanation to magic. It's the point to magic. It does it magically." Karkat finished the flames and started to take his shirt off, standing up and grabbing his bag. "Do I need to wrap those sickles back up?" Kankri shrugged as Karkat stuck the sickles together and shoved it in the red cloth, tying it quickly before he shoved it in the bag. "Put the shirt on the stump and stand on top of it." He threw him the bag and shirt towards Kankri as he pulled the flint together. He waited for Kankri putting the shirt over the stump, Karkat standing on the stump with his back towards Kankri. "I have to light the shirt. Get on." He felt his partner's back on him, he looking down and gulping. "Are you ready?"
"I've never dared mess with any sort of magic. I suppose I am."
"Okay," Karkat looked to the flintstones and started to strike them, "Combustio." He watched the sparks fall onto the black cloth, it igniting and flames coming up around them.
He felt cold. It wasn't a surprise when the fire had ceased, leaving them in the cold, dark night. "Kankri are you with me still?" He looked behind him, humming. "Kankri, we need to high tail it. You there?"
"Yes." Karkat turned around, he realizing they're in a clearing of ash. "I guess they moved west." Kankri spun around, holding the backpack as he looked to Karkat. "Do I have eyebrows still? They don't feel like they're there." Karkat sighed as he pushed Kankri's hair away from his forehead. "Yes Kankri, your eyebrows are still there. We have to hightail it because everything that can sense magic will come here from it being a literal beacon of "Hey, there's higher-level demons here."
"I am not a demon," Kankri said as he threw the bag to him, "I just happen to not be the same thing that was the most common thing that lived here 10 years ago." Karkat looked to him as they started to walk quickly, Kankri having his compass out and Karkat at his side. "I didn't follow that. What are you?"
"I'm not human, and I'm not sure about you."
"I'm a hybrid," Karkat mentioned, "I, however, won't say what I'm a cross between." He waited for a response, Kankri not saying anything. "You're not against hybrids, are you?" They still walked in the night. "I'm not against hybrids, Karkat, but perhaps when we're in that safe place you can tell me more. We must remember that this place is in control by an empire run by a psychopathic woman who's opinion is law. That woman does not like it when the Alternians and humans mix." Karkat looks at Kankri, humming. "Do you know what I am?" He watched the other nod, "Yes."
"Can I know what you are?"
"You should already know. Do you how to read sign?"
"I can't do sign language," Karkat admitted, "My mind and my hands are on two different pages." Kankri stopped and shook his head, "No. Not sign language. Sign!" Kankri pointed to a symbol burned into the ground, Karkat pausing. It was a square with sides that seemed as big as himself. Inside of it was a curved line at the top, and two triangle-like shapes sticking from the top. A water drop came from one of the points. "What is that supposed to be?"
"A-According to my friend, it resembles a grinning monster with sharp fangs, and the drop is supposed to be blood. It's marking danger," Kankri wheezed. "It looks freshly burned into the ground, too. It only means one thing."
"What?" Karkat asked, feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand.
"It means we're not alone here."
"I'm not human, and I'm not sure about you."
"I'm a hybrid," Karkat mentioned, "I, however, won't say what I'm a cross between." He waited for a response, Kankri not saying anything. "You're not against hybrids, are you?" They still walked in the night. "I'm not against hybrids, Karkat, but perhaps when we're in that safe place you can tell me more. We must remember that this place is in control by an empire run by a psychopathic woman who's opinion is law. That woman does not like it when the Alternians and humans mix." Karkat looks at Kankri, humming. "Do you know what I am?" He watched the other nod, "Yes."
"Can I know what you are?"
"You should already know. Do you how to read sign?"
"I can't do sign language," Karkat admitted, "My mind and my hands are on two different pages." Kankri stopped and shook his head, "No. Not sign language. Sign!" Kankri pointed to a symbol burned into the ground, Karkat pausing. It was a square with sides that seemed as big as himself. Inside of it was a curved line at the top, and two triangle-like shapes sticking from the top. A water drop came from one of the points. "What is that supposed to be?"
"A-According to my friend, it resembles a grinning monster with sharp fangs, and the drop is supposed to be blood. It's marking danger," Kankri wheezed. "It looks freshly burned into the ground, too. It only means one thing."
"What?" Karkat asked, feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand.
"It means we're not alone here."
Story belongs to this group
Characters belong to Andrew Hussie and Homestuck
Characters belong to Andrew Hussie and Homestuck
© 2016 - 2024 melancholicArtisian
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