(Warning: blood and character death. Also, I tried to make the ending as sappy as possible to fulfill the “cheesy romance” part of the prompt, but I don’t know if I did it quite right.)
Though the forest is shady by day, any land located under the conglomerate of trees is pitch-black after sunset. In the mind of Karkat Vantas, this is good news: for him, surviving this game isn’t about hunting— it’s about hiding, hoping that whoever’s left in the end will be weak and injured enough for him to take out.
He takes shelter in the dark woods, moving as quietly and as quickly as possible. The scattered foliage and dimness created by the trees makes both of these goals nearly impossible, but he’s still fairly certain he’s not being followed. More than half of the game’s participants— no, more than half of the game’s victims are gone already, and everybody left is probably trying to kill each other. He’s safe— for tonight, at least.
Karkat considers making camp for a brief moment, but the sound of plants rustling behind him changes his mind quickly. The source of the noise was probably a stray hopbeast, but he’s alert and awake and panicked enough that traveling a bit farther in the opposite direction of the sound seems like a fantastic idea. If Sollux were still around, Karkat thinks, the Gemini would probably be telling him to grow a spine and stop freaking out about a harmless wild animal.
And then Karkat reminds himself that Sollux is not around, and he hasn’t been around since that strife with Eridan that morning over the small pack of supplies that Doc Scratch oh-so-politely dropped between five or six starving trolls, effectively ending any loose sort of alliance they’d formed. And he decides to keep moving.
After another hour of creeping through the forest, trying and failing to move noiselessly through the branches and occasional patch of fallen leaves, he comes across a small clearing, and barely resists the urge to spew out a loud string of expletive-ridden insults directed at nobody at particular. Not only would anyone else wandering around in the woods be instinctually attracted to the wide open space, but said space provided absolutely no cover—the entire point of loudly and half-blindly stumbling through the forest in the first place.
Suddenly, he hears more rustling, and the crackle of leaves, and the snapping of branches, and it’s all from a creature far too large to be anything vaguely resembling a hopbeast.
Karkat spots the faint outline of a figure on the other edge of the clearing about a hundred or so meters away. It’s too dark to tell whether the figure is troll or human, much less who it might be— but whoever it is, to Karkat’s horror, is making absolutely no effort to hide their presence, walking rather noisily from the edge of the forest into the clearing.
That could mean one of two things— they’re either prepared enough, or they think they are, to take on anything that wants to confront them, or they’re too stupid to realize they’re practically a walking alarm, warning everything in the area to come and attack them. While being in the vicinity of either is asking for death, the figure walks a bit closer to Karkat and he can make out something else— the figure is dragging a blunt-looking object behind them. If it’s a weapon— and it probably is— then they’re probably in the ready-to-kill-whoever-they-come-across category.
Karkat instinctively takes a step back, preparing to sprint away— and steps on a large, dry branch, a rather loud snap echoing through the area. The figure turns in Karkat’s direction, and begins to sprint towards him.
Despite all the noise around him, from nocturnal beasts and mysterious figure alike, everything seems silent to Karkat as he pulls out his scythe. But he’s hungry, and tired, and scared, and whoever’s running towards him seems just full of energy, and—“
“Karkat!”
Hearing his name in that familiar voice snaps him out of the trance. He slowly lowers his scythe as he recognizes the figure— the boy— running towards him.
“Karkat, are you okay?”
It takes the troll a moment to process this. “John, what the fuck are you doing?”
John gives him a small smile. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Y’know, after this morning, when…” he trails off. “When we all got separated. Do you know what happened to everybody with us?”
Karkat grimaces. “I think Jade got away, but I’m not really sure about Kanaya. Last I saw, she was trying to intervene between…” The grimace fades away into a miserable, tired frown.
“I think I… know what happened between those two. I’m really sorry about that.” The boy tries to lay a reassuring hand on Karkat’s shoulder, but is pushed away almost immediately.
“John, don’t you get it? Scratch put sixteen of us here, and fifteen aren’t leaving. It was pretty much guaranteed that Sollux was going to be one of them, and it’s pretty much guaranteed that we are, too.” He takes a breath, and continues. “And let’s say, somehow, everyone else on this island manages to kill each other off? Then what?”
He’s a bit surprised to see that John hasn’t walked away at this stunning display of logic, or, if he was really smart, killed him with the weapon he was carrying around— where the hell did he manage to find a sledgehammer? “Yeah, I know all that, Karkat. But…”
“But what?”
“I’d— Karkat!”
Karkat is utterly unprepared for what happens next— he sees the startled look in John’s eyes and suddenly he’s on the ground; a loud shot rings out, and John is lying facedown on top of him a second later.
Karkat can vaguely hear someone running away behind him, but he's much more focused on the boy right on top of him. "John, what just― John?"
Said boy mumbles something incomprehensible onto Karkat's chest, and he sits up, careful not to jostle John around too much. As gently as possible, Karkat lifts him up, and turns him over. And, as John lays in his arms, breathing unsteady and eyes barely open, Karkat realizes what has just happened.
Blood blooms from the bullet embedded in his stomach, and his parts of his light-blue shirt are dyed a sickening red. It distantly occurs to Karkat that this will be the second time today he watches someone important to him die.
“Why?” his voice is weak. “Why did you do that?”
Despite the pain he’s obviously in, John. “You’re right. Only one of us is making it off the island. And, Karkat...”
The troll feels tears forming in his eyes, and in a moment, pale red drops are falling onto John’s shirt.
“I want it to be you.”
Before John’s eyes close for good, Karkat places a gentle kiss on his lips. John grin grows a bit wider, and then fades into a small smile.
“Promise me you’ll live, Karkat.”
“…Yeah, John, I will.”
Karkat sits with him, cradling his body until he no longer feels the boy breathing. Gently lowering John’s body to the ground, the troll stands up and, after taking one last look at the boy who died for him, pulls out his scythe. The sun’s going to rise in a few hours, and he’s done running.
FILL: TEAM JADE<3NEPETA
Though the forest is shady by day, any land located under the conglomerate of trees is pitch-black after sunset. In the mind of Karkat Vantas, this is good news: for him, surviving this game isn’t about hunting— it’s about hiding, hoping that whoever’s left in the end will be weak and injured enough for him to take out.
He takes shelter in the dark woods, moving as quietly and as quickly as possible. The scattered foliage and dimness created by the trees makes both of these goals nearly impossible, but he’s still fairly certain he’s not being followed. More than half of the game’s participants— no, more than half of the game’s victims are gone already, and everybody left is probably trying to kill each other. He’s safe— for tonight, at least.
Karkat considers making camp for a brief moment, but the sound of plants rustling behind him changes his mind quickly. The source of the noise was probably a stray hopbeast, but he’s alert and awake and panicked enough that traveling a bit farther in the opposite direction of the sound seems like a fantastic idea. If Sollux were still around, Karkat thinks, the Gemini would probably be telling him to grow a spine and stop freaking out about a harmless wild animal.
And then Karkat reminds himself that Sollux is not around, and he hasn’t been around since that strife with Eridan that morning over the small pack of supplies that Doc Scratch oh-so-politely dropped between five or six starving trolls, effectively ending any loose sort of alliance they’d formed. And he decides to keep moving.
After another hour of creeping through the forest, trying and failing to move noiselessly through the branches and occasional patch of fallen leaves, he comes across a small clearing, and barely resists the urge to spew out a loud string of expletive-ridden insults directed at nobody at particular. Not only would anyone else wandering around in the woods be instinctually attracted to the wide open space, but said space provided absolutely no cover—the entire point of loudly and half-blindly stumbling through the forest in the first place.
Suddenly, he hears more rustling, and the crackle of leaves, and the snapping of branches, and it’s all from a creature far too large to be anything vaguely resembling a hopbeast.
Karkat spots the faint outline of a figure on the other edge of the clearing about a hundred or so meters away. It’s too dark to tell whether the figure is troll or human, much less who it might be— but whoever it is, to Karkat’s horror, is making absolutely no effort to hide their presence, walking rather noisily from the edge of the forest into the clearing.
That could mean one of two things— they’re either prepared enough, or they think they are, to take on anything that wants to confront them, or they’re too stupid to realize they’re practically a walking alarm, warning everything in the area to come and attack them. While being in the vicinity of either is asking for death, the figure walks a bit closer to Karkat and he can make out
something else— the figure is dragging a blunt-looking object behind them. If it’s a weapon— and it probably is— then they’re probably in the ready-to-kill-whoever-they-come-across category.
Karkat instinctively takes a step back, preparing to sprint away— and steps on a large, dry branch, a rather loud snap echoing through the area. The figure turns in Karkat’s direction, and begins to sprint towards him.
Despite all the noise around him, from nocturnal beasts and mysterious figure alike, everything seems silent to Karkat as he pulls out his scythe. But he’s hungry, and tired, and scared, and whoever’s running towards him seems just full of energy, and—“
“Karkat!”
Hearing his name in that familiar voice snaps him out of the trance. He slowly lowers his scythe as he recognizes the figure— the boy— running towards him.
“Karkat, are you okay?”
It takes the troll a moment to process this. “John, what the fuck are you doing?”
John gives him a small smile. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Y’know, after this morning, when…” he trails off. “When we all got separated. Do you know what happened to everybody with us?”
Karkat grimaces. “I think Jade got away, but I’m not really sure about Kanaya. Last I saw, she was trying to intervene between…” The grimace fades away into a miserable, tired frown.
“I think I… know what happened between those two. I’m really sorry about that.” The boy tries to lay a reassuring hand on Karkat’s shoulder, but is pushed away almost immediately.
“John, don’t you get it? Scratch put sixteen of us here, and fifteen aren’t leaving. It was pretty much guaranteed that Sollux was going to be one of them, and it’s pretty much guaranteed that we are, too.” He takes a breath, and continues. “And let’s say, somehow, everyone else on this island manages to kill each other off? Then what?”
He’s a bit surprised to see that John hasn’t walked away at this stunning display of logic, or, if he was really smart, killed him with the weapon he was carrying around— where the hell did he manage to find a sledgehammer? “Yeah, I know all that, Karkat. But…”
“But what?”
“I’d— Karkat!”
Karkat is utterly unprepared for what happens next— he sees the startled look in John’s eyes and suddenly he’s on the ground; a loud shot rings out, and John is lying facedown on top of him a second later.
Karkat can vaguely hear someone running away behind him, but he's much more focused on the boy right on top of him. "John, what just― John?"
Said boy mumbles something incomprehensible onto Karkat's chest, and he sits up, careful not to jostle John around too much. As gently as possible, Karkat lifts him up, and turns him over. And, as John lays in his arms, breathing unsteady and eyes barely open, Karkat realizes what has just happened.
Blood blooms from the bullet embedded in his stomach, and his parts of his light-blue shirt are dyed a sickening red. It distantly occurs to Karkat that this will be the second time today he watches someone important to him die.
“Why?” his voice is weak. “Why did you do that?”
Despite the pain he’s obviously in, John. “You’re right. Only one of us is making it off the island. And, Karkat...”
The troll feels tears forming in his eyes, and in a moment, pale red drops are falling onto John’s shirt.
“I want it to be you.”
Before John’s eyes close for good, Karkat places a gentle kiss on his lips. John grin grows a bit wider, and then fades into a small smile.
“Promise me you’ll live, Karkat.”
“…Yeah, John, I will.”
Karkat sits with him, cradling his body until he no longer feels the boy breathing. Gently lowering John’s body to the ground, the troll stands up and, after taking one last look at the boy who died for him, pulls out his scythe. The sun’s going to rise in a few hours, and he’s done running.
After all, he’s got a promise to keep.