The Peacekeeper

Chapter 9

He was bleeding and he was pretty damn sure he was going to pass out or die if he didn't treat his wound soon, but that was the least of Karkat's worries at the moment. There was a rumor going around that the enemy's forces were hiding out in the far south side of the kingdom, hidden behind the forest. That was close to where Karkat lived. That was where Karkat lived with his moirail. He snuck away from The Warlorde's angry yelling and borrowed a horse. He was just going to make sure Equius was fine. He was just going to make sure the rumors were false. He had to, his moirail was all he had, he couldn't lose that.

The rumors weren't false and Karkat was ambushed. Luckily it was only three trolls, it was a simple and quick fight though a split second distraction caused Karkat to be injured. Now he was bleeding and trying to make it back to his hive to see if Equius was alright. He could do this, he's made it through worse. He could survive a simple injury.

Karkat was panting and holding onto the trees as he walked, praying to any horrorterror that Equius was fine and that he'd miraculously jump out of nowhere and take him back to Her Imperial Radiance's palace so his wounds could be properly treated. However, instead of the blue blood he was praying for, someone else came into view.

"Oh fuck!" Karkat glanced over to where he heard the voice and saw a troll with four horns and bi-colored eyes. "You're going to die if you keep bleeding at this rate...hold on. There's a huge hive near here. I'm going to get you help." Electricity made the air crackle around Karkat and suddenly he was being lifted up. The red-blood wanted to protest but he had to admit, it was nice not using up his energy to walk. "I'm Sollux Captor, The Empress' Architect. Don't worry, I'm going to get you help." Karkat smiled and tried to muster up the energy to say some words of gratitude but nothing came out before he blacked out.

~

"Thanks Kanaya. You can stop by anytime. You guys too." Dave waved goodbye as the three trolls left Dave's small apartment. Karkat was sitting on the couch, reading one of the books Dave had bought for him. The human walked over and sat down besides the reading troll.

"Where did you go?" Karkat barely glanced over to Dave when he spoke. He had to admit, he was slightly worried when he woke up and didn't see Dave there. The albino shrugged and took off his jacket, laying it over the top of the sofa.

"I was feeling stressed so Egbert and I had a guys night out in the town. We basically just watched the latest movies before going to the park and terrorizing geese. John got one so pissed off that it started chasing him." Dave cracked a grin and turned his body more towards Karkat. "Oh man, you should've seen him. John started flying thinking that the goose wouldn't get him but he forgot that they could fly too. Dude it was hilarious, John was screaming like a little kid." Karkat smiled ever so slightly. He had to admit, imagining one of the Gods who helped create this universe flying away in terror from a goose was pretty funny. Karkat's smile didn't last long though. It instead turned into a slight frown.

"Are you stressed because of me?" The troll asked quietly. He already knew the answer was yes but he wanted Dave to lie to him and tell him it wasn't, he wanted the false hope. As Karkat expected, Dave shook his head.

"No, not at all..." The human shook his head and wracked his brain trying to come up with a believable lie. "It''s just....work. I can't keep up with all these new songs and the DJ job is pretty intense these days..." Dave laughed nervously and shrugged. "Just work that's stressing me out, it's no biggie though." Karkat nodded, not convinced whatsoever. He was sort of hoping that Dave would be a good liar and convince him that it wasn't Karkat's fault he was stressed all the time.