03-05-2018, 01:33 PM
As Karkat eyed her with what she imagined was barely contained anger for having laid a hand on him like that, Malon calmed a little. “That fox is more scared of you than you’re scared of it”, she said.
“I’m not scared of it!” Karkat protested. “I’m going to fight it before it attacks us!”
“It’s just observing us. We’re probably near its cubs or something. Hold on…” She put her backpack down before herself and pulled out a piece of meat that she’d wrapped into leaves. Leftovers from their last meal in Tearen’s encampment. The fox’s ears perked as it picked up its scent but it did not move.
“You’re going to lure it in? Good idea!”
“We’re not killing it.” She put the meat on the ground and pulled the backpack on. “Now let’s leave.”
“Don’t tell me you’re fucking feeding it?!”
“Of course I am.” She stepped backwards and beckoned for him to come along. “Foxes are carnivores but they prey on small animals like rabbits. They don’t go up against bigger creatures, so there’s no need to attack this one. He’ll leave us alone.”
Karkat eyed Malon suspiciously but followed her. “Why are you wasting good meat on some random animal then?”
“I’m a Prime, like Gamzee - I could just summon more if we need it. Better than to let it rot in my backpack. Watch…” She pointed at the fox, which by now had dared move from its spot and came closer. It eyed the two of them, snagged the meat and hurried back off into the woods with its prize in its maw. “It’s just a harmless critter. You don’t need to be scared of it.”
“I already told you I’m not scared. And stop treating me like a child! By your earth years I’m as old as you are.”
“Then act your age! You needn’t be hostile to those around us here.”
Karkat pinched the bridge of his nose. “Listen, human. Gamzee may have entrusted you to take ‘care’ of me for a while but that don’t mean I’ll let you talk to me that way. And I’m being careful. For all I knew that orange-furred thing could have been a deadly monster.”
“Alright… point taken. How about I treat you properly if you take things a little easier then?”
Karkat crossed his arms. “Easier.”
“You’re not a bad guy, but… you’re aggressive. I’d love to have you along for my journey for as long as you like but I want to discover things. I want to explore this… this all.” She waved her hand around to vaguely point out the entire Camelot verse. “I want to meet people, learn things, experience adventures and have fun. I realize that I can’t carelessly run around and that this isn’t a rose-tinted world, but if you get hostile at every possible danger we’re going to alienate a lot of people. It’s going to close a lot of doors on us. You get it?”
“Sure I do. Except that I don’t see any reason to go easy on this place. If we do things your way we’re inviting everybody in that wants to stick a knife in our chest and can hide it behind a smile.”
“Why would anyone want to do that?” asked Malon.
“Where I come from people needed no reason to kill you”, Karkat remarked. “They just did it for fun.”
“That’s why Minas Tirith and other human settlements have laws and guardsmen to uphold them. To prevent that sort of thing from happening.” She tightened the straps of her backpack. “And speaking of Minas Tirith, I’m eager to get there before the sun sets. There’s a friend there that I want to visit, and after that we can start our tour of this beautiful land.” As she began to walk, something popped into her mind and she turned her head towards Karkat. “Can I ask you something else, by the way?”
“I guess?”
“About Gamzee and you… I don’t mean to sound impolite, but after I got the glances of memories from the both of you thanks to Tearen’s work, it got me more curious about you guys. You’re… trolls, right?”
“Yeah. We’re from different castes, but we’re both trolls.”
“You’re way different from the trolls from fairytales from Hyrule, that’s why I wanted to confirm. I’ve got a lot of questions! Like say… Where do you come from? Do all trolls have horns? Are they numb, like bones, or do you feel it if they get touched? And… is there a reason Gamzee is the way it is – some sort of mental condition or something? Because the glimpses of memories I saw through his eyes made me feel like he’s high on Zoran Blackweed or something. Oh, and you mentioned something about castes, what did you mean by that? Is your society divided into warriors, workers and such?”
“Hold your horses for a moment, human… Zoran whatnow?” asked Karkat.
“Oh, it’s, uh… an illegal drug from my home world. You dried it and set it on fire, then you inhaled the smokes, it made you all woozy and see things… different. At least, that’s how someone described it to me.”
“It’s kind of something like that”, he responded. “But it’s complicated.”
“Well, we’ve got half a day’s trek ahead of us”, she pointed out. “I’d like to hear of it… maybe I’ll get a better understanding of your viewpoint.”
“I’m not scared of it!” Karkat protested. “I’m going to fight it before it attacks us!”
“It’s just observing us. We’re probably near its cubs or something. Hold on…” She put her backpack down before herself and pulled out a piece of meat that she’d wrapped into leaves. Leftovers from their last meal in Tearen’s encampment. The fox’s ears perked as it picked up its scent but it did not move.
“You’re going to lure it in? Good idea!”
“We’re not killing it.” She put the meat on the ground and pulled the backpack on. “Now let’s leave.”
“Don’t tell me you’re fucking feeding it?!”
“Of course I am.” She stepped backwards and beckoned for him to come along. “Foxes are carnivores but they prey on small animals like rabbits. They don’t go up against bigger creatures, so there’s no need to attack this one. He’ll leave us alone.”
Karkat eyed Malon suspiciously but followed her. “Why are you wasting good meat on some random animal then?”
“I’m a Prime, like Gamzee - I could just summon more if we need it. Better than to let it rot in my backpack. Watch…” She pointed at the fox, which by now had dared move from its spot and came closer. It eyed the two of them, snagged the meat and hurried back off into the woods with its prize in its maw. “It’s just a harmless critter. You don’t need to be scared of it.”
“I already told you I’m not scared. And stop treating me like a child! By your earth years I’m as old as you are.”
“Then act your age! You needn’t be hostile to those around us here.”
Karkat pinched the bridge of his nose. “Listen, human. Gamzee may have entrusted you to take ‘care’ of me for a while but that don’t mean I’ll let you talk to me that way. And I’m being careful. For all I knew that orange-furred thing could have been a deadly monster.”
“Alright… point taken. How about I treat you properly if you take things a little easier then?”
Karkat crossed his arms. “Easier.”
“You’re not a bad guy, but… you’re aggressive. I’d love to have you along for my journey for as long as you like but I want to discover things. I want to explore this… this all.” She waved her hand around to vaguely point out the entire Camelot verse. “I want to meet people, learn things, experience adventures and have fun. I realize that I can’t carelessly run around and that this isn’t a rose-tinted world, but if you get hostile at every possible danger we’re going to alienate a lot of people. It’s going to close a lot of doors on us. You get it?”
“Sure I do. Except that I don’t see any reason to go easy on this place. If we do things your way we’re inviting everybody in that wants to stick a knife in our chest and can hide it behind a smile.”
“Why would anyone want to do that?” asked Malon.
“Where I come from people needed no reason to kill you”, Karkat remarked. “They just did it for fun.”
“That’s why Minas Tirith and other human settlements have laws and guardsmen to uphold them. To prevent that sort of thing from happening.” She tightened the straps of her backpack. “And speaking of Minas Tirith, I’m eager to get there before the sun sets. There’s a friend there that I want to visit, and after that we can start our tour of this beautiful land.” As she began to walk, something popped into her mind and she turned her head towards Karkat. “Can I ask you something else, by the way?”
“I guess?”
“About Gamzee and you… I don’t mean to sound impolite, but after I got the glances of memories from the both of you thanks to Tearen’s work, it got me more curious about you guys. You’re… trolls, right?”
“Yeah. We’re from different castes, but we’re both trolls.”
“You’re way different from the trolls from fairytales from Hyrule, that’s why I wanted to confirm. I’ve got a lot of questions! Like say… Where do you come from? Do all trolls have horns? Are they numb, like bones, or do you feel it if they get touched? And… is there a reason Gamzee is the way it is – some sort of mental condition or something? Because the glimpses of memories I saw through his eyes made me feel like he’s high on Zoran Blackweed or something. Oh, and you mentioned something about castes, what did you mean by that? Is your society divided into warriors, workers and such?”
“Hold your horses for a moment, human… Zoran whatnow?” asked Karkat.
“Oh, it’s, uh… an illegal drug from my home world. You dried it and set it on fire, then you inhaled the smokes, it made you all woozy and see things… different. At least, that’s how someone described it to me.”
“It’s kind of something like that”, he responded. “But it’s complicated.”
“Well, we’ve got half a day’s trek ahead of us”, she pointed out. “I’d like to hear of it… maybe I’ll get a better understanding of your viewpoint.”