Chapter Text
Karkat doesn't know how long he has been at it, but running is beginning to take its toll on his legs. It begins to strain his muscles as he begins to pant heavily, his breath frazzled and his eyes dazed. On the run for hours, yet it would seem like months, or even years. This is something he did expect to happen but, not this soon. He needed to rest. Somewhere; away from the tailgating feral beings who would dare to chase him for a pathetic excuse for a reason.
He winces as a minor sore on his knee becomes a persistent struggle to balance while he is moving, his pace slowing down drastically. Panic begins to rise as he veers into an alleyway, not knowing what else to do. He finds a few trash bags and hides amongst them, desperately covering himself in the city filth. He hisses as his knee gives up, basically stranding him there, helpless in an unknown city around him.
"Mmmeh.." Karkat managed a strangled cry as his muscles give up on him. All he could sense is that someone is approaching him, and that the person was alone, from the singular footsteps that were taken. He shivers as the cold was getting to him slowly, his skin covered in Goosebumps, bruises and other horrible wounds. Tears begin to form in his eye as he lets another strangled cry out.
Dave pulled the hood of his jumper over his head, ignoring the occasional looks of passers-by as he walked down the street, eyes unseen behind those shades of his. He hardly took them off, even when it was dark like it is now, the lights of the street lamps the only luminance to guide him down the footpath. Home was just a few blocks away, never really did take too long to get anywhere around this city; it was all crammed together. The bad thing about the place being crammed together is that there was usually the odd dark alleyway where buildings were too small to fit into but too big for a kiosk or something. It doesn't bother Dave too much; he's used to passing those dark places often, hardly bothering to look down into the gloomy darkness to check if someone or something was in there.
Turning down the street that he always does, he finds himself in an empty street. It doesn't faze Dave that much and he continued walking, converse sneakers scuffing slightly along the pavement. The red jacket only provided so much insulation from the cool night, making him shiver only slightly.
The silence of the night was eerie, making Dave turn around and look about for any signs of life other than the distant sound of cars driving along bitumen roads and, if he listened real hard, talking and the occasional footstep. He shook it off though and continued, a dark alleyway approaching. When he stepped before it he didn't care to look down it, not really bothering to check if there were any signs of life in there or not and just looking down the street, moving to simply pass the alleyway instead.
Dave paused, a pained noise stopping him and attracting his curiosity enough to make him look down the alleyway, wondering who or what had made that noise. The second gurgling cry made him jump a bit as he stared at what looked like a pile of rubbish bags that were moving slightly. Dave took a cautious step closer, eyeing the bags and approaching them steadily. He stopped himself when he was a few feet away, the small muffled sobbing noises coming from it making him worry for the stranger whoever they are.
"Hey? You 'kay?" He tilted his head slightly, looking at the pile for any kind of response.
"Nngh?" He can't say anything, he is clearly too exhausted to even try. Instead he lefts an arm towards the sound of the unfamiliar voice, hoping that they would see it, almost metaphorically begging him, guessing it is a him from the masculinity of the voice, for help.
Dave couldn't exactly make out the colour of the stranger's skin, even as he held his hand out towards him, the nails seemed to be painted in a bright golden yellow colour - that or they're really yellow, ugh - that stood out in the dark night. Dave couldn't just leave the person alone in the night, carefully reaching his hand out and taking the extended appendage by the wrist, hand on the top of theirs in a manner Dave hopped was comforting.
"You needing help? C'mon, come out of there now..." Dave pulled on their wrist slightly, hoping to encourage the person to leave the safety of their little hidey place among rubbish bags.
He allows himself to be touched by the foreign man, as the voice sounded... Like an ally. Karkat's eyes were drooping down and he could not make the figure out from sheer exhaustion, but manages to tighten the grip with the strangers hand. He Tugs on the arm a little, before tilting his head down, and using his other hand to move a few things from his trash fort away, so his body is not obscured from the strangers view.
Dave didn't seem to notice much different about the person, thinking it was just a trick of the light that their skin seemed colourless. What surprised him was the small cuts and bruises littered all over the small body before him. He twisted his mouth to the side in thought, looking over the person and trying to think of what exactly to do.
"Shit you got beat didn't you?" He stated, scanning over the nicks on the other's body. He didn't seem to be much older than himself actually. That's when he saw the two rounded nubs on his head, golden and... non-human. He froze up, blinking a few times behind his shades, trying to figure out what exactly he was looking at.
He nods in response to the man's concerned voice, but cannot bring himself to do anything else. Slumped, he can feel himself leaving consciousness. It was rude sure, but Karkat was not able to keep awake. He hadn't slept since one day before he fled, almost three days ago. His hand goes limp as he passes out, eyes closed, breathing steadily, skin ice cold from the lack of clothing.
Dave stared at the limp body before him, feeling a bit torn in two between trying to help or just running the fuck away because having horns on your heads wasn't exactly a normal thing in human society. Then again, the thing, it, he, something, was unconscious now so it won't hurt Dave will it? He hopes not as he cautiously leans over, pressing a few fingers to his throat, feeling the familiar beat of a pulse and moving of the throat breathing. He let out a small sigh, looking the creature over, unsure of exactly what to call it - him, try to be polite Dave, jeez - and it was kind of hard to find out his name if he was unconscious. Shit, his arm is limp and he's so cold... Fuck. Dave glanced down both ways of the alleyway, checking for any onlookers before sighing and getting the grip to release on his arm enough for him to take off his jacket, carefully leaning over and pulling the stranger away from the wall, supporting his back himself as he slides the piece of clothing over his shoulders. Fuck, what to do now? Um...........
A strong breeze blows down the alleyway, blowing the short, black, matted hair out of the face of Karkat, his pained, yet peaceful features appearing due to the dim glow of the street lights from the exit of the alleyway.
Dave let out a small almost inaudible sigh, looking around once again, trying to think of what exactly to do. Apparently Dave has no idea and he lets out another small sigh, eyebrows pushed inwards, hidden behind black frames, as he stuck a hand into his jeans pocket, pulling out his iPhone and quickly flicking through his contacts, picking out 'Dirk' and calling it, holding the device to his ear and waiting. He probably won't have to wait long, Dirk being the worrying older brother he usually is.
Checking the clock, Dirk glanced out the window for what may have been the fifth time since the streetlights had flicked on. He knew Dave could take care of himself, but he still couldn't shake the paranoia every night when Dave would walk back to their apartment alone. Sighing, he sat down on the couch, resisting the urge to glance at the clock yet again.
Looking at the clock, against his own advice, Dirk tried to calm himself about Dave's extended absence. He'd taught Dave street smarts, he'll be fine. It wasn't working. Dave had probably gotten distracted by some kind of stray animal…
"What is that kid doing?" He muttered to himself, If Dave was in trouble, or was hurt... No, Dirk forced himself to stop the thoughts; Dave was smart enough to avoid trouble... He hoped.
The ringing of his phone had Dirk jumping off the couch in an instant. "Where have you bee- scratch that. Where are you?" He began to pace as he listened, worry being replaced by mild annoyance.
Dave rolled his eyes, Dirk being Dirk. "Alleyway, Roe Street, found some dude... he's hurt, couldn't just leave him out here, he's unconscious but still alive, get your butt over here before I freeze my ass off." Dave, being the douche he is, doesn't even bother waiting for a reply or saying goodbye, opting for just hanging up instead, leaning against the wall, making sure to be a good distance from the stranger first.
Well, the kid wasn't hurt if he was acting like such a dick. Dirk picked up his keys, locking the door before heading to the apartment building's garage to pick up Dave and the weird guy he'd found. As he hopped in, he had to wonder what had happened to the guy, and why Dave of all people had happened to find him. He turned down Roe Street, looking for the familiar face (if it still counted as familiar, being obscured by shades and all) among the dark shadows.
Dave heard the car driving along the street before he saw it, pushing away from the wall and heading to the mouth of the alleyway. He spotted the car and waved an arm out, keeping to the shadows mostly so as not to be seen by a person looking out of a window of one of the buildings.
He noticed Dave, and parked the car in front of him, jerking a thumb to the back seats. "Dump your mystery guy in and let's go." He drummed his fingers as he watched Dave's movements from the mirror.
A noise of what seemingly is to be, at a guess 'angry protestors' echoes down the street, carrying pitchforks and torches, as if they were going to start a riot within the city. Their battle cries and calling of Karkat's name is easily heard.
Dave paused; listening to the noise curiously, heart beating slightly faster as he heard the noises getting closer. Dave didn't want to be stuck in the middle of this. He quickly jogged back over to the stranger, looking him over curiously before crouching down and slipping an arm cautiously under his knees, the other under his arms and around his back. He paused, getting a grip and trying to make sure he didn't drop the guy as he pushed himself up to standing, regaining his balance for a moment before quickly walking back to dirk. "Open the god damn door Dirk! I kinda got my arms full!"
The mob begins to multiply in size, with different variations of weapons within the crowd. Some carried spears; others carried guns, tridents, bows, swords, and blades of some description. One thing was certain. They had horns on their heads.