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Vriska woke to the sound of her spider lusus’s piercing screech. Lately she felt sure that she could differentiate the intentions of each screech; she wasn’t too sure if this was because the huge arachnid was slowly draining her sanity or not. This particular screech was sounding like “I need you; get down here this instant” to her. She saw no point in dragging out this confrontation, so she squared her shoulders and strolled out of the door, down the stairs and into the lair of her lusus.
As she reached the edge of the first landing, she looked up—looked up? Since when did she have to do that?—into the many eyes of the towering spider. She had the usual permanently-adhered intimidating look on her face with a touch of a frustration/irritation combo. She also looked very hungry. Venom was clearly dripping from her fangs. Vriska was not ready to admit how uncomfortable that made her feel.
“Why haven’t you gone out to hunt?” she asked her right away.
I cannot… came the reply, strong and clear and resonating in Vriska’s mind.
“Why not?” From her vantage point, she did not seem sick or injured. Those were the only two reasons that could truly stop her from feeding. It certainly couldn’t be a lack of food source.
I have grown—
“Well yeah, but--”
--grown too large…
Vriska stared, really stared at her guardian. She had of course noticed the rate at which the spider was growing, but never did it occur to her that she would actually reach a size where she could no longer provide for herself. The implications of this new situation were difficult to ignore. That left only one question to ask, one question that she knew deep down didn’t truly need to be asked.
“But if you can’t hunt for yourself…then how will you…?” she trailed off. Her tongue felt thick, as if it were engorged with her unsaid words. She waited what seemed like an eternity for a response. Ever so softly, it came:
You must…
Discomfort gave way to dread. She was shaking her head, shaking away the words from her head. As if it would make a difference. Try as she might to banish them, the words continued.
It is your duty.
"No," she whispered, backing away from the edge of the landing. "No!" she repeated with more intensity.
You must...Vriska, you must...
A thousand excuses ran through her head. She was just a wriggler, she wasn't strong enough, she'd never be able to fully satisfy her appetite, there must be another way. Throughout the turmoil in her head, however, the only words leaving her mouth were "no" over and over.
If you do not...I will die...
That revelation sobered her up almost instantly. The panicked expression melted away.
The price of my guardianship is nourishment. Fulfill your duty to me. Please...
Please. She had never sensed, nor had she ever expected to sense her lusus beg for anything.
I am so hungry...
Vriska nodded once, turned heel, and marched back up the stairs and into the scarce comfort of her respiteblock. A resolute calm blanketed over her as she settled onto one of her window sills, staring up into the evening sky. So this was it. This was how she bit the dust. Her big dumb spider with her big dumb appetite would eat her out of desperation, or die from hunger, which of course would bring the culling drones to her door within a week. Maybe she'd be able to buy herself an extra week if she hid away in someone else's hive. It was too bad she didn't know that many people. Her neighbor might be able to help out with that problem, even if he was a little creepy and very smelly. She'd have to think of something amazing to do in her final moments. Going out in a flash of glory sounded like a good way to leave her mark on this stupid planet.
As if on cue, Vriska noticed a flash out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head just in time to see the tails of a shooting star quickly fade into the sky. She nearly tripped over herself standing up and pressing her face to the glass. Shooting stars were good omens. They brought you luck. They made your wishes come true! All she could think, as she stared wide-eyed at the after-image burned in to her vision, was that there wasn't a troll out there right now that didn't need some luck as much as she did.
She needed to follow it. She needed to know where it led. Maybe if she stared hard enough, she could pinpoint a general area of where the star might have pointed on land. She studied the ground as hard as she could for about five minutes before grabbing a sheet of paper and drawing a crude map for herself. Once she had her route all planned out, she was down the stairs and out of her castle door in what seemed like the blink of an eye, her heart and her mind racing so fast that the impatient screeches of her lusus were little more than white noise to her.
The journey took about two hours on foot. Vriska arrived in the small forest clearing, winded and sweating and never feeling more energized in all her life. A simple treasure chest was all that stood in front of her. She stepped closer. There was a symbol on it. Her symbol. She smiled wide. The star, her lucky star, had led her to her destiny.
--
Hand over hand, Terezi climbed steadily up the ladder to her hive. At the last rung, she hoisted herself up and flopped face-down on the floor, laying still for a few moments and enjoying the coolness against her cheek. Tonight had been another successful FLARP session. Victory was hers, despite her playing alone against a team. These campaigns were fun and all, and it was good to get out of the tree every once in a while, but the fact of the matter was this game was designed to be played in teams. The sooner she found a partner, the better.
Searching for the right partner unfortunately was easier said than done. Terezi had been almost certain that her search was over once she found the cat troll Nepeta Leijon, but after only one campaign, she got a message from her saying that her moirail was forbidding her from any future campaigns. The turn of events was disappointing, but Terezi was far from giving up. The online forums that she frequented produced people that were also enthusiastic about teaming up, but each one had some sort of flaw that Terezi didn't particularly want to deal with on a regular basis.
She sat up and looked at the time on her husktop. She could probably check to see if she had any new messages before taking a quick nap. One migration to the chair and a few clicks revealed no new messages. It was just as well. She didn't really feel up to weighing the pros and cons of potential partners at the moment anyway. With a big yawn, she padded over to her pile of scalemates and collapsed into it. Her search could wait for a couple more hours.
--
Vriska was getting better at her mind control. She of course had a good reason to practice each day, but she couldn't help but think that a part of it was also because of her genetics, that she had inherited some of that talent from her ancestor. Anything that brought her closer to being more like Mindfang was enough to make her swell with pride. It was usually this surge of pride that got her through her nightly hunts. Standing alone in the grounds that her lusus used to frequent while trying to make the least amount of noise possible was really boring and a little depressing. Once she caught a weak-willed mind in her psychic grip, if she hurried, she could make herself tune out the screams and cries of protest rattling in her brain until they reached the spider, who would of course snatch them up and have them devoured almost instantly, yet--much to Vriska's chagrin--it wasn't enough. It was never enough. Even when she was able to snag three or four trolls at a time for her, she was always rewarded with that same ravenous stare coupled with fangs dripping with venom. It pissed her off to no end. When the hell was she going to stop being hungry and start being grateful? If her anger got so bad that the urge to go out and start killing indiscriminately rose, she would read a part of Mindfang's journal to calm herself. Luckily, it usually didn't reach that level. Most of her frustrations lay in her lack of efficiency. Sure, she was doing the best she could right now, but there had to be a better way. At the rate she was going, there was no telling if or when she would be unexpectedly added to the menu.
A soft ping sounded from Vriska's husktop. She scowled; nothing good ever came from messages she got on Trollian. They were either pathetic trolling attempts or solicitations. Today's message was apparently from an anonymous person. Funny, she didn't think it was possible to send messages anonymously through this client. She squinted; the message wasn't showing up. Did this asshole write his text in white? Peeved but curious, she highlighted the text. It was a link to some sort of roleplaying game. FLARP, huh? Her eyes traveled to the edge of her desk, where she kept Mindfang's dice, the Flourite Octet. She'd learned the hard way that they were magic and dangerous, and hadn't touched them since, but if this roleplaying game is legit, they could become her greatest weapon. She opened the link and read the rules twice.
She loved the game already.
--
Terezi had fallen into a certain routine with her search pattern. Check Trollian, check forums, pester friends, get basically shot down, check forums again, quit for the night. She was right around step two when she heard a familiar ping. Yes! she thought excitedly. Maybe Nepeta or Karkat finally pulled through and found someone for her.
--arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling gallowsCalibrator [gC]--
Well...this certainly wasn't Nepeta or Karkat. Let's see what the ceruleanblood wanted.
AG: Redglaaaaaaaare!
GC: TH4TS NOT MY N4M3
AG: I figured. 8ut it would make a pretty good flarp name, don't you think?
GC: M4YB3
AG: I think it would. For you, at least. I've chosen the name Mindfang for myself
GC: GOOD FOR YOU, BUT 1S TH3R3 4 PO1NT TO YOU T3LL1NG M3 TH1S?
AG: What do you say you and I team up?
GC: >:O
GC: YOU W4NT TO B3 P4RTN3RS?;
AG: Yeah! It'll 8e gr8!
GC: HMM...
AG: What? You aaaaaaaare still looking for a partner, arent' you?
GC: Y34H 1TS JUST
GC: 1V3 H34RD OF MOST OF TH3 BLU3BLOODS TH4T FL4RP
GC: BUT 1V3 N3V3R H34RD OF YOU
GC: WH4TS YOUR N4M3 4NYW4Y?
AG: I told you, it's Mindfang! ::::)
GC: NO
GC: YOUR R34L N4M3!
AG: Oh, that. It's Vriska Serket.
GC: 4ND HOW LONG H4V3 YOU B33N PL4Y1ING?
AG: I just started!
GC: JUST ST4RT3D? 4S 1N ON3 OR TWO C4MP41GNS?
AG: Even less than that, actually!
GC: OH MY GOD
AG: Hey! Don't you go counting me out just yet!
AG: I'm willing to 8et I know the rules of this game 8etter than you and anyone else you've ever played against at this point!
AG: I also know that this g8me was m8de for people like me to pl8y it!
AG: You give me one ch8nce and I'll pr8ve it! I'll show you that I'm the 8est partner th8re is!!!!!!!!
GC: WHO4 SLOW DOWN TH3R3 SP1D3RTROLL
GC: 1 TH1NK W3 C4N R34CH SOM3 SORT OF 4RR4NG3M3NT
AG: Yes?
GC: 1 KNOW 4NOTH3R T34M OF TWO
GC: TH3YR3 FR13NDS OF M1N3
GC: 1LL 4SK 1F TH3Y W4NT TO DO 4 PR4CT1C3 C4MP4IGN
GC: 4ND W3LL C4LL TH4T YOUR TR14L RUN >:]
There was silence for a while, so much so that Terezi started to think she'd scared her away. Right before she was about to close the window:
AG: Looking forward to it, Redglare. :::;)
--arachnidsGrip [aG] ceased trolling gallowsCalibrator [gC]--
GC: 1 TOLD YOU TH4TS NOT MY
GC: UGH
She pushed away from her computer with a sigh. This was the sort of thing that could easily backfire on her. But there was just something about this troll that made her simultaneously intrigued and uneasy.
--
"Vriska, this is Team Charge. Meet Aradia Megido and Tavros Nitram."
The members of Team Charge greeted Vriska with polite "hellos" and hand waves. Vriska returned them with a curt nod, though she only seemed to be focusing her attention on Tavros. Her smile when she looked at him was twisted and a little maniacal, as if she'd just discovered the last component in her diabolical plan to take over the world.
"What's with the getup?" Vriska asked. Unsurprisingly, Tavros avoided direct eye contact.
"Oh, uh, it is the proper attire, of a boy skylark..." he answered hesistantly.
Vriska snickered, the twisted smile never leaving her face. "Of course it is," she said, sounding almost mocking.
"Alright, let's get started." Terezi decided to butt in while she still had a little control of the situation. "You remember the rules we talked about, right?"
Vriska rolled her eyes, waving her off. "Yeah yeah, no deathblows, don't permanently damage your friends, no cheating, I've got it already."
"Good." It was Terezi's turn to give the big terrifying smile. "Let the trial commence!"
Turns out Vriska wasn't all talk. Terezi let her try clouding after Vriska practically begged, and she showed some real potential, although she tried some particularly tricky manuevers that were dancing on the lines of legality according to the rules of the game. Her psychic gift, which she'd apparently been hiding until it was most opportune, rendered a couple of surprises. One was for Tavros as his eyes glazed over once caught in her grip, and the other was for Vriska herself as she discovered Aradia's imperviousness to psychic attacks. All parties involved definitely noticed that nifty set of glowing dice. The two teams stayed neck and neck for a while before Terezi finally called off further play. "I've seen enough," she announced. "Thanks for your help, guys."
"You two really do play well together," Aradia chimed, smiling genuinely before turning heel and walking away, a slight spring in her step. Tavros looked like he wanted to add on to the comments, but once he realized Aradia was leaving him behind, he tripped over himself trying to catch up with her. That left Terezi alone with Vriska, who of course was staring expectantly at her, waiting for her deliberation.
"Well?" Vriska prompted after too many moments of silence passed. Terezi stared back, more to antagonize her than anything.
"...That was a pretty impressive first game," she finally confessed, "So we'll see how a partnership works out for us--"
"Ahahahaha!"
"Would you let me finish before you start your victory laugh?"
Vriska quieted, but the smug look clearly wasn't going anywhere.
"As I was saying, we need to set a few ground rules first."
"Bluh. Okay fine, add more rules, but first I want to show you something!" Before Terezi knew it, her wrist was caught and a valiant effort to drag her was being put forth. She held her ground.
"You're not listening, Vriska." she scolded.
"Yes I am! Just talk while we're walking, jeez! Come oooooooon!"
"Where exactly are you in such a hurry to take me?"
"My hive."
"Your hive? What's there that's so important?"
"Just trust your new partner for a few minutes, would you?"
New partner. The phrase had a ring to it nice enough for her to get distracted by it and unwittingly swept up in Vriska's mad trek back home.
--
"Listen, if you want to do your little justice thing while we flarp, that's fine. I don't have a problem playing along with that. But I do have a condition of my own."
Terezi raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."
Vriska took a calming breath; Terezi would be the first one to know about this and live. "You have to let me take the losers to my lusus."
"Take them to your lusus?" she echoed. The confusion flashing across her face made Vriska laugh mirthlessly.
"Come on, Pyrope. You saw her when we passed her on the way to my block. You know the lusii that grow to be that large have very unique diets." She waited for the realization to dawn on her. Fortunately, it arrived just as quickly as the confusion had. She seemed to think about it for a few moments before nodding solemnly.
Vriska didn't really want to press the issue, but she needed solid confirmation. "So you agree, then? I feed the bad guys to the spider?"
"Yes," Terezi answered, her voice even. "You feed the bad guys to the spider."
Vriska smiled. She would hug her if she didn't think Terezi would find that weird. She wasn't sure what else to give the troll who was helping save her life. She supposed she would have to give her her utmost dedication in the game, although she'd planned on doing that anyway. "Great. Now, there's one last thing I need to show you."
Terezi pursed her lips. "I don't know how many more surprises my blood pusher can take, Serket."
"Can it!" Vriska snapped, rummaging around under strewn piles of character sheets and discarded d4s (man, she really needed to clean up her block) before withdrawing her most prized possession, holding it close to her chest before turning to show it to her new partner.
Terezi looked at the dusty book curiously before noticing the symbol and cracking a smile. "What's this? You gonna read me a passage from your diary?"
"I said shut up!" She stuck her nose in the journal so that Terezi wouldn't notice her flushing cheeks. Flipping pages intently, she finally stopped at an illustration and turned to show the page to Terezi. It was of a woman with straight sharp horns, standing regally in a courtblock.
"That's a legislacerator," Terezi pointed out.
"Astute observation!" Vriska remarked, her smile growing wider. "Now look closer." She pointed at the woman's abdomen, circling a part of her outfit. "Doesn't it look familiar?"
Terezi stared at where Vriska was pointed before her mouth went agape. Slowly, she looked down at the symbol on her own shirt. Vriska had to stifle her giggles. It was great that Terezi wasn't an idiot.
"Doesn't it feel familiar?" Vriska pressed, stepping closer.
"Who is she?" Terezi asked.
"She was the Neophyte Redglare."
Terezi's head snapped up to stare at her. "You can't possibly think that I'm--"
"Is it really that far-fetched of a thought?!" Vriska countered. She took the journal back and held it in front of Terezi, pointing at the worn symbol. "This journal was owned by Marquise Spinneret Mindfang. I found it. And then I found you." Vriska paused, waiting for a response. Terezi gave none, so she continued. "So yeah, I'm ready to believe in a few so-called impossibilities, especially when they're standing right in front of me. What about you?"
Terezi squared her shoulders and stood up. The two of them were on the same eye level. "We could be just like them. Mindfang and Redglare, the scourge of the land and sea. We'd be continuing their legacy!" Vriska held out her hand. "So what do you say, new partner? Ready to embrace your destiny?"
Terezi looked at her hand and gave a chuckle, which grew into a boisterous laugh. "For a crazy bitch, you talk a pretty good game, Mindfang!" She took her hand and grasped it firmly.
Vriska joined in the laughter. "That's no way to flatter someone, Redglare. We'll have to work on that."
--
After the two of them got over their laughing fit, they formally created the characters Mindfang and Redglare as members of the newly formed Team Scourge. It was a moment they both figured they would remember forever. After all, theirs was a partnership that was seemingly written in the stars. Instead of being a constant memory, however, it became more of a flashing memory, visiting them when the moment was apparently right. It seared through Terezi's eyes after the Alternian sun had done all the damage it could do, and it appeared as the fuzziness in the peripheral vision her lusus had granted her anew. Vriska relived it through the burning pain of losing her arm, and in the phantom pains that accompanied her robot arm. They relived that moment together, almost as if they had been transported back through time and space, as they faced each other for the final time. At what point did this get so serious? What happened to this being just a stupid little immature game between friends, between rivals, between sisters?
What she wouldn't give to have that moment back...