Souleaterstuck: Chapter 2

Sollux, his two weapons, and the other pair had been chatting on the other side of the room, but agreed to go outside to practice as well. The fushiablood lead them all out to the edge of her expansive gardens, in an open area complete with targets just behind the school that was usually used for training.

You listen in silently as Terezi asks the other pair about themselves on the walk there. They're complete weirdos: a dopy-looking indigoblood with smudged facepaint and a stuttering brownblood in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down.

"Oh uh, nice to meet you Terezi. I'm Tavros. This is my meister, Gamzee." The indigoblood gives a wave and a grin. "He's been my friend for uh… quite a long time. I'm very grateful to him, since he's probably the only reason I haven't been culled yet considering my uh, disability. Luckily it doesn't affect my weapon form though! Gamzee got in the Academy fine since his blood is so high, and I guess he convinced them to make an exception for me since, uh, for some reason no one else wanted to be his partner."

You look at the highblood again at this statement and you can't say you're surprised.

"Nah bro, I couldn't do nothing without you. Didn't want no other partner," Gamzee says sleepily.

You raise an eyebrow at Terezi and notice the corner of her mouth twitch like she's trying to suppress a laugh. You're very surprised, however, when you get to the training area. Gamzee steps forward as Tavros pushes himself out of his seat with his arms. In a flash, a pair of small, deadly-looking, almost club-like scythes connected by a heavy chain drop into Gamzee's waiting palms. Suddenly his demeanor changes, losing his slouch and lanky awkwardness, now obviously clear that he knows exactly what he's doing. You aren't sure if it's the presence of a weapon in his hands, his soul being connected with Tavros', or a combination of the two that changes him, but even with the droopy eyelids and dumb grin still on his face, you're glad he's on your side.

The highblood twirls the double scythes in his hands expertly and disappears. You look around and see he's flash-stepped across the field to decapitate one of the target dummies in one swift motion.

"Aww man, would you look at that! I still got it. Miracles," he chuckles and sways on the spot slightly.

You stare at him, then at Terezi, whose expression mirrors your own.

Sollux's weapons applaud their skill excitedly. The goldblood steps forward and the girls leap in unison. With another flash, Sollux catches an identically shaped pistol in each hand. He stands there for a moment with his eyes closed, seeming to center himself, trying to strengthen the newly formed bond between the three souls. You think it must be quite a bit more difficult to maintain a connection like that rather than a normal one. You watch, interested, as he grips the pistols and shakes them slightly, testing their weight. He bounces on his heels and twirls them, then lifts them to his face and straightens his arms. Taking careful aim at the nearest circular target, he squeezes one of the triggers. A gold burst of light shoots across the lawnring with a bang. It sears a hole in the target, but far from center.

Sollux drops his arms and closes his eyes for another moment, then shakes himself out and takes aim once more. This time the burst of light is slightly bigger and slightly closer to center. He tries a few shots in rapid succession that all hit, but you can tell he's bothered by the kickback.

He bites his lip and twirls the guns again, then changes his grip so that he's holding them upside-down. The kickback now secure against the strongest part of his palm, he aims again and pulls the trigger with his pinky finger. It hits dead center.

The meister throws his hands in the air and does a dorky victory dance.  You roll your eyes but can't help the hint of a smile as Terezi laughs and applauds him. He starts to practice on the longer range targets as Terezi turns to you, holding out her hands expectantly. You take a deep breath and jump, shifting into your weapon state with a flash. The handle of the scythe is about a head taller than her in length, the curving blade just slightly shorter. You look at her through the eye on the connecter between shaft and blade, watching as her gloved hands wrap around the cool metal. Immediately she pitches forward as you slam into the ground.

She yelps and snatches her hands away, rubbing her strained back. She then grits her teeth and straddles the handle, grips it tightly, and pulls. It doesn't move an inch.

"What's going on?" you frown and call out to her, your voice echoing out of the scythe metallically.

You can see her straining. "You're too… heavy," she grunts as she yanks again.

"What? No I'm not. I thought you said our souls were compatible."

"They are!"

You feel a flutter in your metaphorical chest area as tendrils of her soul energy reach out and brush against yours. Your breath hitches, and you can feel your soul harden and shy away from her advances.

"Ith there a problem?" Sollux asks as he wanders over, noticing Terezi struggle.

"I can't lift him." She stands up, crossing her arms.

He takes off his glasses. "Try to make the connection again while I watch."

Terezi sits down in the grass and lays a hand on your blade. You feel her soul brush yours again while it hardens everywhere she touches.

"Hmm." Sollux squints. "Karkat, let your thoul athept her connection."

You focus your mind and try to be receptive. "I… I can't. It's involuntary."

Sollux puts a finger to his lips and nods. "You don't trutht her. That'th the problem here. Your thoul ith too wary and defenthive to let her in."

Terezi pouts and looks down at you. "Wow, rude."

You shift back into a troll to sit beside her. "Well, I'm sorry that my soul is unwilling to let in some insane blind girl that I've known for an hour." You know what the real reason is, of course. Letting her into your soul would give her access to everything. If she pushed hard enough, she could find out anything about you that she wanted. You would never admit it, but you were scared.

She gives you a look that would mean she was glaring at you if she could actually see. "Okay, well, what can I do to make you trust me?"

You blink at her, surprised by the sincerity of the question. "… I don't know."

"I want to be your friend, Karkat. Will you let me be your friend?"

You pause again and look at her closely. You've… never actually had a friend before. "… Yeah."

The fluttering feeling in your chest area comes back as her soul reaches out again. Yours shies away. She frowns at you. You shrug apologetically.

Sollux starts to wander back to spar with Gamzee, calling over his shoulder. "You guyth will figure it out. Try thtrifing together or thomething. Develop your teamwork."

You stand with a sigh and offer Terezi your hand. She takes it after a minute and you help her to her feet. She still looks disappointed.

You walk over to one of the mechanical target dummies and set the level to 'moderate.' You return to stand beside Terezi as it warms up. "Come on, let's beat the crap out of it."

She smirks and assumes a fighting stance. The bot moves and you go at it together.

Despite being a weapon and someone who is used to fighting with a weapon, hand-to-hand combat is a highly necessary skill, especially in troll society, and you are both very good at it. You however opt to suspend your usual aggressiveness in favour of taking the more passive role that a weapon should for the sake of practice. Might as well start getting used to it.

You pay more attention to her than the machine, trying to read how she moves, find a pattern and style that you can help to compliment. Pretty much entirely legs, she leaps and kicks with perfect accuracy. She is aggressive and headstrong in her blows, always going for maximum damage. She is, however, smart about it, and never lets it land a blow on her. Her frame is small and you can see how it frustrates her, and that with your nigh-indestructible scythe form in her hands she would use it largely to counter so she would be able to get in closer and put up more of the fight that she wants.

You move in closer to her, shifting just your right arm into your scythe blade, and try to do just that. With you deflecting the bot's heavy blows, she ducks under and around you to target its more vulnerable areas.

The longer you fight, the more your movements start to really sync up and you kind of see what the goldblood was talking about. You really do instinctively work well together.

All too soon, the bot wracks up enough damage point from your blows and shuts down in defeat. The two of you stand there panting until Terezi straightens, grinning, and hold her palm out to you. You snort but return the high-five.

"So." She turns to you, putting her hands on her hips. "You heard how weapon/meister pairs are supposed to share a hive, right? Something about strengthening bonds and being prepared for emergencies. How far is your hive?"

You groan. You had forgotten that important detail. "… Pretty far."

She grins. "Excellent. You can stay in my hive then. It's pretty close and I have an extra respiteblock."

"Wonderful."

"Oh! Do you have a lusus?"

"What? Of course I have a lusus."

"Okay, he can come too. There will be enough space. I can wait here for a while with Sollux if you wanted to go get your stuff now."

"Yeah, might as well," you sigh.

She smiles broadly and waves you off as you begin the trudge back to your hive. With what you've seen of this girl so far though, you can't help a small twinge of excitement at the prospect of fighting alongside her again.