Chapter Text
After Dad dies, Karkat is all you have left.
All your life, you've always been a bit of a loner. You never really felt like you fit in with the other pods, and Dad was always more than happy to move on when you felt uncomfortable. But when he died, he left you alone, so very, very alone, and you almost gave up.
Now, though. Oh man. You wouldn't trade this for anything! You have your own territory, a prime spot off of the coast of some island, and you have Karkat.
And boy do you love Karkat.
Soooooooo much! Oh. Hehe.
You know he loves you back, too, and it's the best feeling in the world. You can feel it, in the way that your kind feels things, and even if sometimes he doesn't act like it you know he cares about you a lot.
You can feel it when you go to lie down on the bed of sea-weed you share. You can feel it every time he looks at you, an exact replica of your own rush of warmth when you look at him.
Sometimes, you ask him about his past, about what he did before he met you, but every time he goes quiet, and you can almost taste the fight he's having with himself, and you lay a hand on his arm – careful, avoid the spines, you don't want to get cut again – and tell him, it's okay. He doesn't have to tell you.
You'll wait.
You have to admit to yourself, though. Life is pretty good.
///
You're both hunting for dinner, the setting sun slowly robbing you of light. It doesn't matter, though; you can see pretty well in the dark.
Karkat feels them first.
HEY, he says, grabbing your attention. DO YOU FEEL THAT? You tilt your head, and your eyes unfocus as you try to sense what he does. There; two unfamiliar minds, closing in on your territory fast. You grin at him.
Let's go teach them who's boss in these waters.
Karkat smiles back, mirroring your own expression, and his sharp teeth reflect what little light there is left back into your eyes.
TIME TO FUCK SOME BITCHES UP.
They're waiting for you, just inside your territory, and the small fins on your neck by your gills ruffle at the obvious challenge. There are two of them: a male and a female, and they regard you with cold eyes as Karkat speaks.
YOU'RE INTRUDING ON OUR TERRITORY. THIS IS THE LAST CHANCE TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF DODGE BEFORE WE SEND YOU BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM, COWERING WITH SHAME.
The male growls and darts forward toward Karkat. The female leaps for you at the same time, and she forces you back. You smile at the sound of pain from her partner – Karkat's arm spines always catch them by surprise. The female hesitates, and this time you're the one drawing her away; you don't want her going back to her friend's aid. You dance around her, the blue of your scales shimmering under the water, and when you're finally far enough away from the other fight you decide it's time to engage.
Wow, she's a better fighter than you thought.
She's younger than you, a bit less experienced, but she's quick and merciless. You can sense it; her desperation, her need to win, and you know that she won't hold back or stop until the end. She has nothing to lose.
And that makes her dangerous.
You're a pretty even match, when all is said and done. Blood flows into salt water from the various wounds both of you sport, and you know that you need to end this, soon, before the predators smell a meal. From the way the female starts fighting even harder, you know she's thinking the same thing.
Finally, finally, you manage to back her up against a bed of coral, and you go to town. Punching, scratching, biting where you can, using your tail to beat against her stomach and keep her pinned, and you give her a nice set of claw marks down her arm and face that she'll be bearing as scars for the rest of her life.
You know then that you've won, and she knows it too, her every non-motion ringing of defeat. You're about to tell her to leave and never come back, the whole speech yada yada, when you sense it – a final, grim feeling of determination and satisfaction.
You don't dodge in time.
Before you realize what's happened, a jagged piece of coral is speared deep into your side, and your blood flows out in red clouds toward the surface. You look from the wound to the female, the wound to her, and you feel so much anger at her smug little smile that you can't help but punch her in the face, hard, and she sinks like a stone.
You pull the offending piece of coral out, hissing at the pain, and try to swim back to your sleeping place with Karkat, but you get turned around somewhere. You're exhausted, you realize, you're losing blood, and it's probably not a good thing that the pain in your side is growing less and less with every passing second. You don't know where you're going, unable to focus, but you keep moving forward.
You're lying on a beach. You try to remember how you got from swimming to here, but it's like someone cut it out and all you're left with is a gaping hole in your memory. You try to drag yourself back into the water, because where there's a beach there's humans, but your trembling arms give out halfway through.
You're so tired.
You hear the sound of laughter, voices drawing closer, and you try again, desperate with fear, but it's no use. You've lost too much blood. Your vision swims and you suddenly feel light-headed, and you try one more heave toward the water before you collapse. For good this time, you know.
You look at the cool water lapping at your arms with half-lidded eyes. You were so close.
Karkat's going to be so sad.
You hear a shout of surprise above you, followed by some strange sounds that you don't understand, before your vision gives out completely.