BONUS ROUND 1

[hso_mods]

Bonus Round 1

Genre-Mixing

Hey, shippers! Welcome to your very first bonus round proper--we hope you have lots of fun with it! This time around we're going to be asking you to mix it up a little--each fanwork posted for this round will be a mish-mash of two different genres, blended together in a delightful incestuous slurry to create an UNSTOPPABLE CREATIVE CONCOCTION--er. Or. Something.

Yeah, we're genre-mixing. That's what we're doing this round.

Rules

1. Submit prompts! Prompts should consist of two different genres and one ship. This cannot be your team's ship! These are worth 5 points each, for a maximum of 100 points per team.


2. Look through the prompts and fill whichever you like!


3. You may not fill prompts for your ship, nor may you fill your own team's prompts.


4. Fills should be posted as replies to the prompts which they are for, following the format below. They may be any medium.

Title Format
If you are starting a new thread, please use this format in your title.
PROMPT: TEAM [YOUR SHIP]
Replace [YOUR SHIP] with the name of the team YOU belong to; please use the characters and quadrant, not whatever portmanteau or nickname you've come up with.
If your team name is not in this format and in the title we cannot guarantee that it will be counted.

If you are filling a prompt, use this format in your title.
FILL: TEAM [YOUR SHIP]
Replace [YOUR SHIP] with the name of the team YOU belong to; please use the characters and quadrant, not whatever portmanteau or nickname you've come up with.
If your team name is not in this format and in the title we cannot guarantee that it will be counted.

Posts not using this format in the title will be understood to be unofficial discussion posts, no matter what they contain. They, like all comments on the comm, are subject to the Wank Policy.

Scoring
For prompt posts: 5 points each (maximum of 100 per team)

For fills (as stated here):
First 5 entries in each post: 30 (per entry)
Entries 6-10 in each post: 20 (per entry)
Entries 11-15 in each post: 10 (per entry)
Entries 16+ in each post: 5 (per entry)

All scored content must be created/assembled new for this round.

If you have any questions, please ask them at the FAQ post here, or email them to us (homestuck.shipping at gmail). Otherwise, we cannot guarantee that we will see them in a timely fashion!

Comments

PROMPT: TEAM DAVE<3<KARKAT

[fantasysquish]

Dirk<3Jake
Sciene fiction + mythic

PROMPT: TEAM ERIDAN<3SOLLUX

[eyeslikestarlight]

Cyberpunk + Zombie apocalypse for Eridan <3< Vriska please oh gosh.

Re: PROMPT: TEAM ERIDAN<3SOLLUX

[myrrh_darkwing]

... cod damn it, that's my team's pairing! Ugh. Someone had beta write this!

PROMPT: TEAM ARADIA<3FEFERI

[chiuchiu]

Jake<3Dirk
Steampunk, fantasy 'v'

Re: PROMPT: TEAM ARADIA<3FEFERI

[ivori]

wow what a good prompt I'm gonna try to fill this! ovo/

PROMPT: TEAM Dirk<3Roxy

[chronologicalimplosion]

Tavros<3Vriska, Mythic fiction + Cyberpunk

PROMPT: TEAM Aradia<3Jade

[goblingrin]

Aranea<3Meenah
magic girls + romcom

FILL: Team Jake<3Jane

[veryberrybunch]

“Meenah!” You shout, “What are you doing!?”

She looks over to you, trident raised over her head and ready to deliver another blow to the twitching monster.

“What’s it look like? I’m giving this dude a beating he’ll never forget!”

You slap your hand over your face, “That’s not how you’re supposed to do this.”

By this point a crowd has developed, and you lament on how ridiculous you both must look. Two troll girls in matching Blue and Pink school uniforms, one beating a deformed beast much larger than her, and the other screaming at her to stop. It is safe to say that you both may be the worst ‘saviors’ of Alternia anyone has ever seen. It is also safe to say that you are reelly(shit, you mean really!) close to strangling your gillfriend(wait you mean- oh whatever.)

“Now for the winning krill!” Meenah says, and she flashes the creature a large, sharped toothed grin as she raises her trident again, the tip sticking down.

You almost trip as you race to grab her arms.

“Meenah, no! As descendants of Alternia’s moon, we are meant to save and cleanse the sinners of this planet. This ‘monster’ was once a troll and we must cast a spell to turn him back! If you kill him, we will not have done a respectable job-”

“Alright, alright, fin! I’ll let you do what you want if you shell it.” She lowers her trident and backs away to give you room.

You breathe in deeply as you raise your scepter and say a spell. The light from the planet’s pink moon shines down and engulfs the troll, reversing his transformation. He then gets up and sprints as far away as he can from you and Meenah.

With the show over, the crowd departs and leaves you and Meenah alone.

“Well, now that that’s over we can go home,” She says as she begins to walk away.

You frown at her as you begin to walk too, “You do that every single time we get called to do this. You have to realize that not every one of those things is just a purely evil being. Some of them are innocent civilians who need help! We’ll never get anywhere if that’s all you do.”

Meenah shrugs , “Well, we saved him and the neighborhood for the night, right? So, no big seal. Hey, on second thought, let’s not go home. I’m hungry and I know a sweet seafood restaurant in this area.”

“Shouldn’t we change back?”

“Does it matter?”

You roll your eyes and sign, “I guess not.”

Meenah stops walking to turn you with a large grin before kissing you. As she kisses you, you smile because as much as she is a horrible soldier of justice, she is the greatest girlfriend you could ever wish for.

PROMPT: TEAM Dirk<3Roxy

[chronologicalimplosion]

Dirk<3Jane, Film Noir + Alien Invasion

PROMPT: Team Aradia<>Tavros

[windytier]

how about some kanaya<3vriska alternate universe mixed with lost world?

PROMPT: TEAM Aradia<3Jade

[goblingrin]

Aradia and Diamonds Droog
family + ghost story

FILL: TEAM DAVE<3ROSE

[heirbrusch]

ah i guess it's humanstuck + not humanstuck somehow? daddy droog and mini aradia and a waiting ghost

PROMPT: TEAM JAKE<3 TEREZI

[ruemasde]

Jane <3 Roxy, time travel and satire.

PROMPT: TEAM JAKE<3 TEREZI

[ruemasde]

Aradia <3 Sollux, tragedy and historical.

FILL: TEAM JOHN<3VRISKA

[tehstripe]

Didn't have time to edit this as much as I'd like, and doesn't really lean on the historical too much, but hopefully it is tragic enough!

----

You feel the wheels of the plane touch the ground, even if you can’t see it, you’re glad to be home. If you’d known getting blinded would get you discharged, you’d have done it yourself the moment you were drafted. At least then you wouldn’t have had to experience ‘Nam firsthand.

A nurse helps you out of your seat, and you lean against her shoulder as she leads you, limping, off of the plane. Your local airport is small – only a few gates for the whole thing – but the second you step into the terminal, you’re disorientated. You hear a cacophony of voices from every direction, with no rhyme or reason or concern for the young, confused soldier who just walked in. You slump against the nurse, who is luckily strong enough to catch you.

“Who will be picking you up?” she asks kindly, keeping a firm hand on your shoulder. It’s the only thing anchoring you to the world right now.

“Not sure,” you admit. “My parents just promised it’d be somebody I’d know.” You relish the S’s as you say them - losing some teeth ended the lisp that got you tormented through highschool. When you think about it, getting critically injured on the battlefield is one of the best things that ever happened to you.

“A girlfriend?” the nurse asks.

“Maybe,” you say. “Assuming she still wants me now that I’m blind and useless.” You smile – useless is a great word.

“So what’s this girl of yours like?” the nurse asks. You don’t know if she’s asking for small talk or if she’s hoping for a general description.

“She’s great. Obsessed with old buried shit and she knows the best ghost stories. And she’s not bad to look at either-”

“Shit, Sollux? Is that you?”

Even if you can’t see him, that is unmistakably the gravelly sound of one Karkat Vantas. Not Aradia. You can’t be too disappointed, however – even if you constantly have to reaffirm it with one another, Karkat is one of your best friends.

“Hey, KK,” you say. There is a bit of silence in which you’re not completely sure what’s happening. You think perhaps the nurse is mouthing something to Karkat, but you can never be sure. Finally, she says.

“Well, I’ll leave you in his hands then, Sergeant Captor,” says the nurse, and you are transferred from her shoulder to Karkat’s. It’s awkward – Karkat’s always been shorter than you – but you try to be grateful nonetheless.

“Come on,” he growls. “Let’s get you to the car.”

----

“So what’s life been like around here since I’ve been gone?” You ask Karkat once the car’s started up. “Exciting?”

He scoffs. “Hardly.”

“Surely something’s happened.”

Karkat takes in a deep breath, and that’s how you know he’s about to give bad news. “Well, Eridan came back in... in a body bag.”

You’re about ready to comment “serves him right” until you remember Karkat and Eridan were sort of friends.

“Tavros is back too, but his legs got messed up a bit, and he doesn’t really seem all that right in the head.”

“Knew a lot of guys who ended up like him from my squad,” you say, like it’s nothing. “I hope AA didn’t take it too hard. She liked digging for treasure with him when they were kids.” There’s a weighted pause. “How is she anyways? She didn’t end up with that muscle-head horse-fetishist did she?”

Karkat takes his time, and you fear the worst, but he finally says, “No. Equius volunteered about a month after you left. He’s enjoying the constant orders, I think.”

“Figures.” There’s a moment of silence again, and you’re waiting for Karkat to answer your first question, about Aradia, but he seems intent on ignoring it. He turns on the radio instead – you don’t recognize the song, but it sounds like something by The Beatles. You decide to push him. “Hey, how about we make one more stop before you take me home? Can’t hurt right?”

He sounds a little dejected when he says, “Guess not.”

“Could we stop by AA’s place?”

Dead silence.

“KK?”

“Yeah. Yeah, OK. Are you sure you’re ready for this, though? You don’t look so good. You just got back and everything.”

“I haven’t seen her in months. Part of the reason being in the army sucks is that there are no girls. I want to end my dry spell ASAP,” you explain. “Besides, she’s seen me worse off.” You feel the car shift as Karkat makes a U-turn.

“Not what I’m worried about.”

----

The moment you step out of the car, you know that this isn’t Aradia’s house. You’re not used to being blind yet, but you could probably drive that route be touch alone, and this isn’t it. You stand there for a moment, wondering where you could possibly be. Did she move?

Karkat walks around the car and grabs you by the wrist, leading you forward. “Watch the curb,” he mutters, but you trip over it anyways. And you walk.

You quickly realize that you are not at a house, because no front yard is this large. No park is this quiet either. This is when you get an inkling, but you don’t say anything.

Karkat stops you suddenly, and turns you ninety degrees. “There,” he says.

You frown. “KK, in case you’ve forgotten, I’m blind. What am I supposed to be looking at?”

“Don’t make me say it,” he begs, and shit you think he’s about to cry. But you follow your inkling, so you shuffle your feet forward until they hit something hard.

Your throat constricts, and you reach down, feeling the edge of smooth stone. And you nearly feel sick, but you need to make sure, and your fingertips brush across the surface.

You can make out letters.

“ARADIA MEGIDO
1948-1966
A loving friend and daughter”

Your knees give out, and you fall against the grave, your elbows placed precariously on top as the rest of you simply melts. Sobs shake your body, but you can’t cry. Not with your eyes.

The war took that away, too.

PROMPT: TEAM JAKE<3 TEREZI

[ruemasde]

Karkat <3 Sollux, myths and calamity

PROMPT: TEAM GAMZEE <3< TEREZI

[ilyat]

Ship: Aradia <> Tavros
Genres: cyberpunk + horror

PROMPT: TEAM GAMZEE <3< TEREZI

[ilyat]

Ship: Gamzee <> Roxy
Genres: dieselpunk + film noir

PROMPT: TEAM GAMZEE <3< TEREZI

[ilyat]

Ship: Mindfang <3< Redglare
Genres: space drama + military

PROMPT: TEAM GAMZEE <3< TEREZI

[ilyat]

Ship: Equius <3< Executor Darkleer
Genres: time travel + surrealism

PROMPT: TEAM DIRK♥JAKE

[yucari]

Dave♥Rose - Vampire romance, sports fiction

FILL: TEAM JOHN♥DAVE

[seer_of_void]

-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] opened a memo on board "TEAM NOSFERATU" --

CG: OKAY.
CG: SO UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN COMATOSE AND/OR PUPATING FOR THE ENTIRETY OF OUR SPORTS SEASON, YOU ALL SHOULD KNOW THAT TOMORROW IS
CG: THE BIG GAME.
CG: SORRY, I MEANT TO BREAK OUT THE BOLD TAGS FOR THAT ONE: THE BIG GAME.
CG: SO AS THE TEAM CAPTAIN AND YOUR LEADER, I AM OBLIGATED TO GIVE YOU WORTHLESS WASTESACKS A "PEP TALK."
CG: IT WILL NOT BE AN ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE SO I THINK IT IS BEST TO GET IT OUT OF THE WAY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
CG: IS ANYONE EVEN LISTENING? OR AM I SIMPLY WASTING PRECIOUS SECONDS OF MY LIFE THAT I CHOSE TO SACRIFICE WHEN I CHOSE TO PARTAKE IN SUCH A POINTLESS TIMEWASTER COLLECTIVELY KNOWN AS "THE SPORTS."
GA: I Am Here Karkat
CG: SEE EVERYONE. THAT IS TRUE LOYALTY. THAT IS TRUE DEVOTION TO THE WAY OF THE SPORTSBALL.
TT: I suppose I am obligated to announce my presence in this discussion, too, so that we may get this formality over with as soon as possible. Like you said.
CC: I'm )(-ERE TOO!!
CG: OKAY. GREAT.
CG: SO AS YOU ALL KNOW, OUR ADVERSARIES IN THIS FINAL HOUR OF COMPETITION ARE THE DOUCHEFUCKS COLLECTIVELY KNOWN AS THE SKAIA HIGH WOLVES.
CG: AS WE, THE ALTERNIA HIGH SCHOOL NOSFERATU, HAVE A RIVALRY WITH THESE GUYS THAT IS AS LONG AND TORRID AS A MUSCLEBEAST'S BULGE, WE KIND OF HAVE TO WIN.
GA: If I Could Submit A Request Karkat
GA: That You Please Refrain From Telling Us Everything We Already Know
TT: Torrid is a good word, but Kanaya has a point.
TT: Are you really planning to go over stuff we have had pounded into our meagre little minds since the championship matchup was decided more than a week ago?
CC: Yes, PL-EASE stop wasting our time that could be spent practifishing or somefin!
CG: OK, NO, SHUT UP ALL OF YOU.
CG: I JUST CAME HERE TO SAY THAT
CG: SINCE IT IS THE FINAL GAME OF THE SEASON AND FOR SOME OF US, THE LAST SPORTSBALL GAME WE WILL PLAY EVER BEFORE WE GRADUATE
TT: Indeed.
CG: THAT I THINK IT'S TIME TO USE OUR SECRET WEAPON.
CC: 38O
CC: R----EELY?
CC: Are you S)(OR-E that's within the RUL-ES?
CG: NO. I'M NOT.
CG: BUT WE'VE BEEN WAITING ALL SEASON FOR THIS, AND WE HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE EXCEPT OUR DIGNITIES.
GA: And The Championship
CG: YEAH.
CG: BUT IT'LL BE WORTH IT TO FINALLY TAKE A BITE OUT OF THOSE SKAIA DOUCHEBAGS ONCE AND FOR ALL.
CG: WHICH REMINDS ME. LALONDE.
TT: Yes?
CG: I KNOW YOU HAVE SOME SORT OF HISTORY WITH STRIDER.
CG: PLEASE, DON'T ELABORATE, I'D MUCH RATHER CLEAN MY EARS WITH A PRECISION DRILL THAN HEAR ABOUT YOUR ASSUREDLY SORDID BACKSTORY.
CG: JUST. DON'T LET IT GET IN THE WAY OF YOUR GAME. GOT IT?
TT: Roger that, captain.
CG: RIGHT.
CG: I'LL SEE YOU GUYS ON THE FIELD TOMORROW.

-- carcinogeneticist [CG] closed memo. --

-- turntechGodhead [TG] opened memo on board "team skaia wolves" --

TG: ok
TG: so theres a game tomorrow
TG: lets win
EB: ok!
AG: Ok!!!!!!!!
CA: fine
TG: cool

-- turntechGodhead [TG] closed memo. --

--

"And we're here, folks, for the morning of the big game! I'm so glad everybody could drag themselves out of bed at the bright and early hour of 5 AM in order to witness this super exciting sports event! Isn't that right, Jake?"

"...Jake?"

"My co-announcer is asleep, ladies and gentlemen, but that's okay! I'm sure he'll wake up eventually. I mean, he did hit his head pretty hard on the steps coming up to the announcer's podium, but he's survived tougher stuff before, so no worries! I, Jade Harley, will gladly cover today's super thrilling game of sportsball! And here come the Nosferatu, straight from Alternia! Heeeeey, Kanaya! Doesn't she look adorable in that black and white uniform, guys? Kanaya!! Hey! Go on a date with me! Ladies and gentlemen, Kanaya just flipped me off. Guess I know which team I'm rooting for, and it's not you guys!"

"And here are the wolves! What a great team, with a much better mascot, too! Look at Dave, miraculously not tripping over his feet this time! And there's my brother and his sorta creepy girlfriend! And there's Eridan! ...I don't have anything good to say about Eridan, actually. Go fuck yourself!"

"The teams are lined up along the center line, folks. The ref is rolling the ball into the center. 3, 2, 1, and they're off! Look at that, Karkat and Eridan both dived for it at the same time and knocked their heads together. Somebody call a paramedic! Oh, and it looks like Vriska's seized the ball and is sprinting towards the enemy goal while everybody's distracted. Go, Vriska! Oh, but the Nosferatu are on the defense, and here comes Feferi brandishing her bat. Ooh, that's gotta hurt, folks! Now Kanaya's got the ball and she's running back down the field... Karkat is yelling some kind of signal!"

"I... I can't believe my eyes! She's speeding down the field so fast, nobody can catch her! Faster than any human or troll I've ever seen! There's only one creature in the world that's that fast... hold on, everybody, I have to clean my glasses to make sure what I'm seeing is real... yes! It is real! The Alternian Nosferatu are all vampires!"

"There's gotta be some kind of rule against that, but since Jake's asleep I can't send him to check the rulebook for me. Anyway, the refs don't seem to be doing anything-- either this is within the rules, or they've all hypnotized them with their vampire powers! Whatever! They're running laps around the Wolves! And Rose has got the ball... she's running towards the goal... she shoots! She scores! Ten points to the Nosferatu! Jake, wake up!"

"They're all lined up in the middle of the field again and... oh? What's up with the Wolves? Could it be that they've got a secret of their own that they've been hiding?"

"..."

"...No, they don't, they're just ordinary humans and trolls. My brother's got the ball, but Feferi quickly snatches it out of his hands with vampire speed! She runs it down the pitch... passes to Rose... it looks like Dave Strider is the only thing standing between the Nosferatu and another ten points!"

"Wait, what's Rose doing? She just put down the ball..."

"She's..."

"Oh my god!!"

"...But I thought they were siblings?!"

"Wow, what even."

"Looks like Karkat's yelling something at her. The refs have woken up from their hypnotism. Ladies and gentlemen, there are cards being thrown all over the field! Everybody is getting kicked out of the game! On both teams! Well, it looks like this is it, folks. It's been great commentating for you! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to drag my grandson-slash-grandfather somewhere safe and wait until we're safe from vampire attack."

"Have a nice day everybody, and happy sporting!"

PROMPT: TEAM Aradia<3Jade

[goblingrin]

Rose<3Jade<3Kanaya
super heroes + paranormal mystery

PROMPT: TEAM ERIDAN <3< VRISKA

[mafiahahaha]

Karkat <3 Nepeta
romantic comedy + parody

PROMPT: TEAM Aradia<3Jade

[goblingrin]

Dirk<>Roxy
Anachronism Stew + murder mystery

PROMPT: TEAM Aradia<3Jade

[goblingrin]

Eridan<3Sollux
And Now You Must Marry Me + abandoned architecture

PROMPT: TEAM Eridan<3Feferi

[hauteclare]

Jade<3Rose - Steampunk + Post-Apocalypse

Re: PROMPT: TEAM Eridan<3Feferi

[kimmochi]

omg i have to do this and HI KEN<3

PROMPT: TEAM Eridan<3Feferi

[hauteclare]

John<3Rose - Western + Star-Crossed Lovers

[nextian]

Dave<3Jade<3John<3Rose, kidfic + wilderness survival narrative

PROMPT: TEAM GAM<>KAR

[sicklikewinter]

jade<3karkat - cyberpunk + urban fantasy

FILL: TEAM Rose <3 Sollux

[bleedsblue]

once more unto the breach


December 1st, 2409

There were still some things you couldn't trust to machines.

Every house in New Saffron City had an alchemiter, but the sprawling metropolis was caught in the throes of its third grist shortage this sweep. And some packages were just too important to trust to the sendificator--one wrong button press and you could delay your shipment by a whole perigee.

That was why the runners still had jobs. Every night they took to the streets and alleys, cutting through slums and construction sites, navigating easily even when the smog was at its thickest. Whether they were transporting sensitive data, delicate tech, or drugs, the couriers did the job no questions asked--as long as you had the cred to pay. Runners were the darling of every crime syndicate and biotech corporation in New Saffron, and Jade Harley was among the best.

The cold sharp wind tickled her ears as she sprinted full-tilt through Twelve West. Jade hadn’t even broken a sweat when she finally arrived at Sollux Captor’s door six kilometers later. She had been engineered for speed and stamina; her muscular, tall frame was packed with the best biotech her grandfather’s money had been able to buy. Respirocytes in her bloodstream ensured a steady flow of oxygen to every cell no matter how hard she pushed herself, and her personal best for holding her breath was a full fifteen minutes. She could zoom in on a man fourteen meters away with her bionic eyes and count his freckles.

The benefit of being ruled by an alien race was getting access to their technology.

“About time you got here,” Sollux grumbled through the intercom before she’d even rung. “I’ll buzz you in.”

The door hummed, clicked, slid quietly open. Jade adjusted her floppy, oversized newsboy cap between her ears and stepped into the quiet of Sollux’s workshop.

She found the genius at his workbench, strewn with various tools and fragments of honeycomb. A cloud of bees hovered humming nearby in front of the security display. Sollux kept motion-activated cameras trained on every possible entrance to his lab. He loathed surprise visits.

“KK’s already sent me three messages asking if you’ve been here yet,” he called over his shoulder.

She rolled her eyes. “That jerk! He has no patience at all, does he?” Frowning, Jade checked her watch. It wasn’t even midnight. “--I’m six minutes ahead of schedule!”

Sollux turned to face her, rolling his eyes under his colored glasses. “You know KK. He’s not happy unless he’s micromanaging something or yelling at it. Douche.”

“The crabbiest crab who ever crabbed,” she agreed, smoothing out a wrinkle in her black shirt. “Is the package ready?”

Technically, Karkat Vantas, distribution manager for the Midnight Corporation, was her best customer. This did not stop Jade from thinking of him as grumpy, high-strung, and kind of adorable.

“Yeah, hang on.” He unlocked the workbench’s top drawer and pulled out a box no more than two inches square, wrapped in golden paper printed with a honeycomb pattern. In his long, slender fingers it looked impossibly small.

“Is that it?” Jade demanded. “I wasn’t even supposed to be working tonight, I’m doing this as a favor to Karkat!”

Sollux shrugged, his ill-fitting button-down bunching at the shoulders. It looked like it was yesterday’s shirt, judging from the wrinkles. “KK told me it was important.”

“You are too nice to him, Sollux,” she said firmly, tucking the box into her utility belt (black canvas with green stitching, three pouches, all with hidden compartments--a nine-sweeps wriggling day present from Kanaya). “I hope you weren’t up late working on this!”

“I’m always up late,” he said. “Least this is something I got paid for.” A bee darted from the cloud and hovered at his nose. “They’re starting to fuss, I’ve got to finish this repair and get them back into the frames. See you later.”

Jade let herself out. The quickest way to the Midnight Corporation would be a straight run from the west quarter through the low slums of North and out into the glittering business district of Four East. She’d run two blocks before she realized she was growling, a low rumble in the back of her throat.

Sometimes being part dog was completely embarrassing.

She took a deep breath and tried to dismiss her irritation. So what if she was working on her wriggling day? Karkat always made it worth her while--in addition to being her most frequent customer, he was also the highest-paying. The Midnight Corporation had deep pockets.

She cut into the construction zone at the bottom of Fifteen North, scrambling up the chain-link fence and dropping in a ready squat on the other side. Construction sites were as good as playgrounds to her. The smog was thinner than usual tonight, and the waxing moon above provided her light. Though trolls suffered no ill effects from the weak Earth sun, they were still by and large a nocturnal race, and humans had been forced to adapt to that in the generations after the Alternian invasion.

She ducked under a ladder, step-vaulted over a low wall, and kept moving forward. She knew the site well. Felt Enterprises was building a hivestem here, but construction had halted at the beginning of the last grist shortage and hadn’t picked up since. The company was probably rationing its supplies for projects in the upper-spectrum wards of the city.

There was a wall up ahead, she remembered, and that would divert her path to the right. She could tic-tac off it to clear the stack of cruxite dowels a meter away, come down running, and take a vault over the row of barrels. From there it was a clear shot to the single complete wall of the development, through the space cut for its door, then up the fence and out.

Jade kicked easily off the wall, soaring over the cruxite and picking up speed. Two meters to the barrels--she’d done this at least four times this week; it was her favorite path through the site. Sometimes she came here to blow off steam when she had nothing better to do. Of the city’s sixteen administrative wards, North was the least patrolled. It was mostly humans and lowbloods up here--no need for surveillance. The facilities available weren’t nice enough to bother preserving.

She took the barrels with a low chest vault today, swinging her feet over. Her right foot caught on something long on the other side, and she pitched forward as a howl of pain echoed through the construction site.

She twisted in midair, tucked her head in, came down on her shoulder and rolled, spreading the impact diagonally across her back and coming up in a sit.

“Oww! That’s new...”

Someone laughed behind her. “That would have been a bitchtits jump if you’d cleared it, girlie.”

Jade scrambled to her feet and whipped around. A pair of trolls leaned against the barrels--one painted and chuckling, the other holding one of his long, wide horns and keening.

“Oh noooo!” Thoughts of her own safety far from her mind, Jade darted to his side and knelt down. “I tripped on you, didn’t I? I’m so sorry!”

“Uhh, it’s okay, at this point I am well used to, various types of horn-related injury.”

Jade unclipped her flashlight from the D-ring of her utility belt and turned it on the two trolls. “No, seriously, let me have a look and make sure you’re okay.” The injured one leaned back, trying to shrink from the light, and she frowned. “Come on!”

He was shirtless, his chest crusted with muddy brown stripes, and Jade realized it was his blood.

“He ain’t liking the light, wicked sister,” the painted troll drawled. He was dressed in tattered blacks. If he had a caste symbol on Jade couldn’t see it. “Best put that motherfucker away.”

Reluctantly, she did so. “At least let me check you out,” she pleaded. “You got pretty roughed up somewhere, didn’t you?”

As her eyes readjusted to the dark, she saw the injured troll nod. She offered him her knuckles, and he gingerly tapped his fist against them, gray to brown.

“I’m Jade,” she said.

“I’m Tavros, and this is Gamzee.”

“What happened?” Her first guess was that a highblood had caused his injuries. It happened pretty frequently, despite the planet’s progressive politics.

Earth was on the very outskirts of the Alternian empire, and the Condesce’s grip here wasn’t quite as tight as on other planets. A hundred and fifty sweeps of trolls and humans coexisting side-by-side post-war had relaxed hemospectrum hierarchy enforcement in most of the major cities. A lowblood could rise far higher on a frontier planet like Earth than on any of the core Alternian settlements. Karkat had told her once that he and Sollux had both done unreasonably well for themselves--a management position in a large corporation, a technician with a workshop of his own.

Most others weren’t so lucky.

“The Wild Hunt up and motherfucking happened, pretty puppy-eared sister.”

Jade bit her lip. “That’s ridiculous! Everyone knows Faeries aren’t real.”

“Real enough, to almost kill me.” Even a sharp tone sounded hesitant coming from Tavros.

She’d heard the stories when she was little--Faeries had been part of Earth before trolls, before humans even, and they’d been driven underground by modern civilization. But they weren’t happy about it--oh, definitely not!--and they were as likely to kidnap a grub as a human child to exact their little revenges on.

“Well, if you were hurt by the Faeries,” Jade asked patiently, “how did you escape?” She snuck a glance at her watch. Karkat would be wondering where she was, no doubt... Well, he would just have to be understanding and patient for a change!

“Well that’s thanks, to Gamzee.” Tavros turned grateful eyes to the other troll for just a second before returning his gaze to Jade. Her infodevice buzzed in her pocket, and she ignored the message. Her watch beeped a second behind it, its screen lighting up. A Pesterchum Mobile message, then--she’d installed it on both devices. Runners needed to be accessible to their clients, after all.

Except... not now. This seemed important somehow.

“Brother was the center of attention when motherfuckers got their frolic on in the wilds,” Gamzee said. “I was camped there with some friends of mine, having us some smokes and a little relax, and I decided to take myself on a walk. And what do I see out in those wasted woods but some pale-ass winged assholes taking the knife to Tavbro here.”

“How many?”

“Fuck if I remember.”

“You fought them off alone?” Jade couldn’t quite believe that this rangy, loose-limbed troll might be able to take on a band of Faeries. The stories had said they were shining and strong!

“Gamzee’s... a highblood,” Tavros muttered very quietly, so that Jade had to strain to hear him.

Well, that would explain it, wouldn’t it.

“When?”

“Yesterday, uhh, around dawn. Gamzee brought me here, he said it was, safe. He had to carry me.” Tavros reached down and tapped his legs. “These... don’t work anymore.”

Jade felt in the center pouch of her belt and pulled out two grub bars. They were bland, but at least the protein would help. “Here. One each. You’d better eat.” The infodevice in her right pocket rang. A single press of the top button sent Karkat straight to voicemail. She sat back on her heels, watching the pair, trying to figure out her next move.

She had to deliver this package to Karkat. But she had to help these two guys, right? Tavros was in bad shape--she wasn’t sure of the extent of his injuries. Broken legs, maybe? And even if Gamzee had rescued him, she didn’t trust his ability to continue providing for the other troll.

The infodevice rang again, and her ears flattened against the top of her head. Not now, Karkat! Once more, she silenced it.

“If I call someone to pick you up,” she finally asked, “will you go with him? Tavros, you need medical attention, and I bet you can both use a real meal.”

She watched, frowning, as the two trolls exchange glances.

“I’m going to need you to trust me! I know that’s really scary since we just met, but I promise I won’t hurt you, and neither will he.”

Jade pulled out her infodevice, silenced her third call from Karkat, and tapped on her contacts list.

“Hi John! Did you get me a birthday present yet? Good, because I chose one myself!”


[oh no the whole thing exceeds max comment length! hang on five minutes, I will post the whole thing on AO3 and link the rest over!]

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