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The warmth leaked from his body. His shirt became damp with your tears.  You're not sure how long you sat there, sobbing over his body. Time seemed to stand still; your mind briefly flickered over to wonder if Dave or Aradia had stopped it for you, so you could cry forever. You looked up, trying to see through the water that gathered at your eyes. You could see the blurry figures of your friends, and the outlines of some of the trolls. Someone stepped forward and tried to tell you something; you screamed at them and returned to crying. Your whole body is shaking and you don't even remember summoning the wind that is swirling around you. It seems to by wailing along with you, rushing past your ears as you scream. During your breakdown you realize something, through your grief you come to a conclusion.

You are pissed.

No, you are beyond pissed words cannot describe your anger, or your hate.

You stop crying. You stop screaming. The wind ceases, and the room goes quiet. You mumble something quietly.

"John, are you ok?" Rose asks quietly.

"They should all fucking die! All of them!"

"John?" She questions again, surprise spreading across her face.

You stand up slowly, head still down, the wind swirls around you gently. Glancing around the room you start speaking. "How could you?" you whisper, "He was your friend! Your leader! How the hell could you even THINK of killing him?" Your voice rises with each question. "How could you stand there and calmly decide that he needs to die? After all he did for you. After all he suffered for you." The wind increased in speed, you voice approaching a scream. "I should make you all feel the pain he felt!"  You stepped towards Gamzee. "You should all feel the pain he did. You should all suffer like he did."

Zillyhoo appeared in your hand. You glared at the clown who glared right back. He didn't even get to honk before your hammer met the side of his head.

"JOHN!" Your friends screamed at you.

You turned and walked back to the center of the room. "Do any of you have any idea how much pain he was in? Every day?" You let out a growl so feral that Karkat would be proud. "Do you realize," he paused, summoning the wind to his side and slamming Equius and Eridan to the opposite wall. "That he bound his wings to his back, that he tried to cut them off?" You walked over to Eridan and punched him the face, keeping the sea troll pinned to the wall with the wind. "He was in crippling pain every day since getting those wings. Why?" You punched him again, "I know why. It's because douchebags like you care more about the color of his blood than who he actually is!" The wind released him right into a waiting kick in the gut. He gasped and fell to the ground. You turned on Equius. "And you, you wouldn't have stopped him would you? I bet you would have helped him!" The hammer raised above your head.

"John no! Stop!" A voice called from behind you and Nepeta ran to Equius's side. "I won't let you hurt him."

"He would have killed Karkat!"

"Karkat is dead! It doesn't matter anymore, what good will hurting us do?" She stood defensively in front of her Moirail. "Karkitty wouldn't want you to do this, John."

Something in you snapped further at the mention of his name, "And how would you know what he wanted for me?" Nepeta raised her claws, ready to strike. "How would any of you know?" You used the wind to part her arms and you punched her as well, using the wind to fling her against the wall. Your hammer fell against Equius's knee and he grunted in pain. By this time Eridan had risen and raised his gun, ready to fire. And fire he did, but the blast was no match for the wall of wind you could create in a split second. The lab wall exploded when the diverted blast hit. You went to strike Eridan again but someone grabbed your arms.

"John, bro, knock it off, I know you're angry but chill-" You tossed Dave to the side with the wind as well. He landed next to Rose and Jade, "What has gotten into him?" he questions. He glances up at Terezi, "and how come you guys are just standing around watching him beat the shit out of your friends?"

The blind troll answered calmly, "Because he's not doing anything wrong. He's getting revenge for his murdered Matesprit. He has every right to kill all of us. We will not interfere unless our own lives are in jeopardy. Nepeta jumped in to protect her Moirail, but I have no such attachments to any of them. We will watch, and when the dust settles decide how to act."

"How can you-"

"Dave." She said sternly. "We are trolls, killing is nothing to us. Revenge is an acceptable reason to kill. I thought you knew this."

"But John's not a troll." Rose said.

"But he's attached to one, and don't even try to pretend you didn't notice him behave like a troll. Just like any other troll-troll pair they formed a bond, and when that bond is severed, hell breaks loose." She gestured towards the mini tornado erupting in the lab, "This is hell breaking loose."

Dave got up and walked forward closer to John, Rose stopped him. "Dave don't be stupid, he's a GOD," she pulled him back next to her, "Do you think you stand a chance against a pissed off god?" She sighed, "Look, I know it's not pretty, but we should just let this run its course, he'll come back to his senses."

"Yeah but after how much bloodshed?"

You don't hear your friends talking about you, you don't hear the other trolls growl at you when you look in their direction, you can barely hear your own thoughts. But, that's ok, your thoughts are mostly blank, only one voice is saying anything, and you're already following its command.

You see Nepeta helping Equius to stand. Eridan is still out cold so is Gamzee. The other trolls are standing along the wall; none are moving, or trying to stop you. Something catches your eye, Vriska's wings. "You know what? This shit gets even better!" you step towards her, "I used to think your wings were so goddamn pretty! But do you want to know what I think?"

She looked confidently into your eyes. "And whaaaaaaaat's that John?"

"I think they're ugly."

"Is that so?" Her wings fluttered nervously.

You nod and continue your advance. "Lucky for you I can make them beautiful." The female troll didn't know what hit her, she was thrown against the wall, face first. Your foot plants itself in her back and you stand over her. You grab one of her wings to still it and examine it carefully. "Hmmmm…It seems I was wrong, these will never be as beautiful as Karkat's." you tug a bit, "Should I help you out and just remove them?" You ask, smiling. "It's not like you deserve them or anything. I mean, what did you do to earn them? What's the difference between you and Karkat? How come you can fly and he has to stay on the ground?" You pull a pit harder; she screams and twists beneath you. "The more I think about it, the more I realize that you shouldn't be allowed to have these." You grin and proceed to rip, your smile widening as you hear the satisfying sound of membranes tearing.

She screams out in pain and suddenly you are being dragged off her. "John, leave her alone! She has nothing to do with this!" You spin and find Kanaya holding you firmly. She dodges a punch and a kick aimed at her but fails to hold on when you use the wind to shoot above her. It's then you notice Gamzee start to stir. You fly down to where he is, in your haste you fail to see the club he hurled at your face.

"FUCK!" you rub the spot where it collided and feel blood trickle down. The clown is now standing and is ready to fight. He moves quickly and avoids most of your attacks; your hammer is too easy to dodge. The wind seems to be your option once again. Gamzee puts up a good fight, he lands a few blows where others failed, but he too falls to your rage. You stand over him ready to deal the final blow. He's laughing, staring straight past you. "What the fuck is so funny?" he won't answer. "Did I hit you too hard? Or maybe not hard enough?"

"Nothing's motherfucking wrong with me man," he says slowly. "Just up and watching the motherfucking miracle lights."

"What?"

"I said, the motherfucking MIRACLE LIGHTS." His eyes were unfocused and a smile on his stupid bloody face. "Look at them, and flashing, like a motherfucking rainbow."

"Ok, I hit you too hard, let me finish the job."

"Don't you see it? It's all the way across the motherfucking sky!"

You raise your hammer, ready to splatter the stupid clown's half-baked brains all over the wall when something stops you.

"JOHN! STOP IT!"

You can't believe what you just heard. You figure it must have been your imagination. But you find arms wrapped around you and a head pressed against your neck. His scent is familiar, his arms, his voice. You never thought you'd hear that voice again. "K-Karkat?"

"John it's ok, I'm here, I'm alive, you don't have to fight anymore. Please, just stop."

You drop your hammer and turn around into his chest. "Karkat?" He reassures you and you sob uncontrollably into him. "Karkat I thought you were dead, you weren't breathing, your heart wasn't beating, I thought-I thought-" You turn into a hiccupping mess and he just holds you.

"I don't know what happened, but I'm back."

His arms are around you strongly supporting your body. You kiss him and hold him as tight as you can, fearful that if you let go he'll disappear. Everything seems to vanish; it's just you and Karkat. He purrs and nuzzles you; you kiss his neck and whisper his name over and over again.

"Holy shit, John, I need to stop dying."

You laugh and kiss him again, "Don't make it a habit," you tell him, murmuring against his neck.

Your perfect world of just you and Karkat is interrupted by your friends. "John, are you ok now?"

Still in each other's arms you turn to face Rose, Dave, and Jade. "What do you-" You pause and look around the room, eyes growing wide. "Shit, Karkat…" the room was partially destroyed.

He gripped you tighter and kissed you, he was smiling. "John, it's ok. You were acting on my murder, everyone will understand." He rubbed his hand in little circles against your back, "In fact, it makes me proud that my Matesprit would want revenge, thanks for trying to find justice for me."

"Yes, that would be fine," Kanaya said carefully approaching, "if he had stuck to those who wronged him." She gestured to Nepeta and Vriska, "but he didn't. He completely lost it, Karkat, he put us all in danger."

Terezi stepped forward, "But, if you think about it, he was still in the right. We caused so much pain to his Matesprit, you can't blame him for hating us and our customs." The blind approached Karkat and put a hand against his cheek, "I'm not going to lie, a part of me, deep down, wants to kill you. Just knowing your blood color is an abomination sets me on edge. But, I also know that you are Karkat Vantas, my friend, and our leader." She gestured to every troll in the room, "You all feel it too, you want him dead. I know you do, even if you deny it." The trolls in the room were silent. "It's this inherited prejudice that put us in danger. John may not be a troll, but it's pretty clear after this that he can behave just like one."

"So the question remains, what are we going to do with him?" Feferi asked calmly approaching too. The conversation switched to Alternian. "Do we let him stay, or do we find an alternate option?"

You can understand enough of the language to follow along. You and Karkat both grimace and growl a bit at the mention of an alternative.

Equius hobbled forward, "He's still a mutant, I was willing to compromise and spare his life, but now I'm not so sure."

"Because killing him worked so well the last time," Terezi reminds him. "Not only did John go shithive maggots on us, but Karkat came back as well."

"We could always just let him stay," Nepeta suggested. "Like Terezi said, he's still Karkitty, he's still our friend!"

"Or we could exile him." Equius said, "It would spare his life, and make it as if he was dead."

"But what about John?" Feferi asked.

Terezi stated, "He's too unstable without Karkat. He'd have to be exiled as well."

"This isn't fair!" You say loudly, reminding them you can understand.

"We can't have you killing us, and we all know you'd lose it if we separated the two of you." Terezi looked you up and down, "I mean, look at how you're holding each other. There's a bond that we can't break. Karkat's fate is your fate now. If he dies, you die, if we exile him, we exile you."

Karkat squeezed your hand; you nod, realizing they're right.

"We'll put it to vote." Terezi declared. "Who thinks they should stay?"

Nepeta, Kanaya, and Sollux raised their hands.

"Who wants them exiled?"

Terezi raised her own hand, followed by Equius, Eridan, Vriska, and the barely conscious Gamzee

"I'm sorry, John, you took it too far," Vriska said quietly, lowering her hand.

You nod sadly and press your face against Karkat's arm. "I fucked up, for what it's worth, I'm sorry." You and Karkat walked over to your friends, "Bye guys." You say flatly.

"What do you mean? John what just happened?"

"We've been exiled." You try to smile, but fail.

"Exiled? But why?"

You lean against your Matesprit, "For his blood color," you say, "and I'm too 'unstable' without him. So I have to leave too." You're so tired, you feel like you have no energy left in your body. "Sorry."

Jade stepped forward, "John. You love Karkat right?" She wasn't afraid and looked straight into your eyes. You nod and your Matesprit kisses your forehead. "Then don't apologize! Loving someone is never a thing to be ashamed of! What you have is amazing, remember that."

You hug your sister tight, "thank you, Jade." She hugs you back, "thank you for saying that."

Karkat asks, "How much time are you giving us?"

"You should leave soon mutant blood," Equius says, "Before Eridan or Gamzee decide to try to finish what they started."

"This really isn't fair," Dave spoke up, "you guys took a vote right? Well you didn't include us."

"It was not your place human."

"Damn it, John is our friend!" he paused and took a breath, "Fine, if you won't let him stay, we'll just go with."

"No," You say quickly. "You're safer here with the trolls, you're safer here where you have shelter, backup, and a plan. Follow us and you might as well consider yourself dead."

"John has a point," Karkat said, "we'll be better alone, a smaller group is hard to detect."

"We'll be fine, trust us." You hug all your friends, "We'll see each other again, this isn't goodbye."

Karkat said a few short words to Terezi, and Sollux and met you at the transporter. "I grabbed some of our stuff from my room. Skaia sound like a good place to start?" He asks, you nod and he enters the code. Together you step through and leave the veil behind.

---

Once they reached Skaia Karkat was shouting, and cursing. The Alternian flew from his mouth faster than John could pick up on. The troll fluttered his wings angrily and stomped back and forth.

John sat down and watched, amused by his boyfriends rage. The human was mad, sure, that was to be expected, but there wasn't much that they could do about it now, so why waste all the effort? It was on the fourth or fifth pass that Karkat made by John that he noticed something. "Karkat." He paused. "Karkat." the troll was still pacing, "Karkat, you might want to look behind you," The boy smiled and got up.

"What the fuck do you-" he stopped after examining his back. "John."

"Karkat," he giggled and hugged him. "Your wings are healed."

"John, I…John, they're…John…"

He turned the troll around and kissed him, he asked with his eyes not voice if very carefully he could touch. The trolls responding low purr was yes enough. John ran a hand over the wing once again, he could feel it pulse strong, so different from before. They were healthy, and working, and shimmered in the sun. "Karkat, want to fly?" he asked, already knowing the answer. Karkat stepped back and flapped a few times, getting used to the full range of motion before taking off into the sky. John summoned the wind and was right behind him.

-------

Your name is Karkat Vantas and you are pretty fucking sure that this is finally the best day of your life. Although, the last time you said that, you crippled yourself, but this time, this time for sure it will be better.

The air is crisp and clean; there is nothing in your way, and nothing stopping you from enjoying yourself. Your wings beat rhythmically and make a soft hum that you thought was lost forever. There is no pain, only the joy of finally having your body work like it's supposed to. You feel the wind shift and move, and when you look down you see the face of one John Egbert looking back up at you. "Hi idiot."

"Hi Karkat," he replies smiling and flips over. He takes off ahead of you disappearing into a cloud.

Clouds are wet, and cold, and feel great against your warm body. You can't see much but you assume John passed right through and is speeding further ahead of you. You assumed wrong. He was waiting right outside the cloud, arms open wide and caught you in a surprise hug. You yelp and chirp at the same time at the sudden stop in motion. John holds on tight and lets you both fall through the air. You look at him, all fear gone; there is no one you trust more than John. The wind howls past your ears but your eyes only focus on the boy in front of you. You kiss him slowly, the affectionate chirps lost to the air blowing past you.

He eases out of the drop and flies horizontally for a while, you lay on him wings draped over his sides. His hands glide over your wings and he grins wider when they don't twitch or spasm. You flutter them a few times to emphasize that they are all healed. "I can't believe it," he mummers, almost to softly for you to hear, "it's like you have a second chance."

John landed first and looked up, seeing Karkat heading straight for him. The troll collided with the boy and they fell to the ground, John made a cushion of air to break their fall. "Karkat," he laughs and holds him close. Karkat kisses and nuzzles his Matesprit, resting his head on the human's chest.

He's warm and breathing hard and the purr escaping his throat is full of love. The troll just laid on top of John for a while, they both were enjoying being so close to each other. "Hey John?"

"Yeah?"

"We really are going to be together forever now, aren't we?" he rolled off and curls up by his side. "I mean, it was always my goal, but I didn't expect it to happen like this. Are you ok?"

John stared up the sky, watching the clouds float by, "I guess so. I mean, it's just you and me, but that seems alright. At least we're not alone." He spoke up again, "and you've been healed, and you know what?"

"What, John?"

"We're free." He reached up towards the sun. "We don't have to play the game anymore. We can do anything we want. We can live anywhere we want, just the two of us. No more fighting, no more hiding, no more trying to win. Because I think we did win, this is the prize. This peacefulness, this feeling of relief, of knowing that my friends lives aren't in my hands anymore, and you don't have to hide. We're free."

"Free." Karkat repeated. He yawned and closed his eyes, the warm sun making him drowsy.

John's eyes shut shortly after and they fell asleep feeling more at peace than they ever had before.

---

The two ended up traveling from planet to planet. They were thankful that John's session had completely merged into their own. The number of planets they had to choose from was increased. Karkat warned John that they should probably stay away from the new bases that their former teammates were setting up.

They were deep in the Land of Wind and Shade when the two discovered something else about Karkat. "Karkat, there really isn't much to use for wood in this area, it's all mushrooms."

"Can we even eat these?"  The troll picked one up and sniffed it, making a face and threw it on the ground.

"Survival is harder than I thought…" John commented filling his inventory with more branches.

"Did you think it was going to be easy?"

"Hahahahaha, no not really. Did you?"

He shrugged, "Maybe a bit." His eyes caught something moving low to the ground. He started a feral growl.

"Karkat?" John heard his Matesprit snarl, then he heard a second growl sound behind him. He ducked just in time to avoid a large animal nearly miss taking his head off. "Karkat watch out!"

His warning wasn't needed as Karkat dodged to the side, rolling out of the way and landing on his feet ready to strike. From what the troll could tell it was a large cat. The fur was an inky dark blue that blended in perfectly with the ground. It had glowing blue spots to match the mushrooms it moved through, Karkat couldn't get a scent off of it, he was lucky he saw the glowing yellow eyes before it was too late. The cat roared and lunged at the troll, Karkat growled back just as loud and didn't back down. The beast seemed surprised at prey that fought back. John took out his hammer and raised into the air. This sudden movement caught the cat's attention and it stopped running towards Karkat and instead leaped into the air, catching the bottom of the boy's pant leg. "John!" Karkat half called half growled.

John hit the ground; he was caught unaware and didn't have time to use the wind. He shoved the handle of his hammer in-between the fangs of the huge cat. "K-Karkat help!"

The troll body slammed the cat off John causing his hammer to go flying. Karkat set in on tearing it apart with his claws. John often forgot how deadly a troll could be without all their weapons or powers. The cat wasn't ready give up; it screeched in pain and batted Karkat off with a large paw. Karkat hit the ground for a second time; he scrambled to his feet and sprinted towards John who was going for his hammer. He reached the boy seconds before the cat. The troll growled loudly and held his hand out in front of him.

The cat skidded to stop and started howling in agony. Karkat kept his eyes focused on the beast. His hand still outstretched. The cat screeched and started clawing at itself. It fell to the ground and started having spasms. John poked his head out from behind Karkat; he saw the cat's skin was rippling, bubbling even. Finally the cat gave one last shriek and ceased moving. John moved very carefully over to it. He placed a hand on its fur. "Ow, fuck," he retracted it just as fast. "Karkat…did you…did you just boil its blood?"

"I…I don't know." The troll collapsed and stared up at the stars. "Fuck, John, I'm exhausted."

"Karkat, I think you just boiled this cat's blood," he sat down next to him, "that's really cool!"

"Well, I am the Knight of Blood, about time I figured out what my fucking powers are." The troll shut his eyes and rolled over.

John pet his head softly, "What should we do about the cat?"

"Think we can eat it?" He yawned and curled into himself.

"Hmmmm, I don't know, probably." He looked down and noticed Karkat was breathing slow and steady, "Did you, just…fall asleep? Damn it Karkat, I don't know how to butcher an animal!"

---

Eventually the two visited Jade's planet, Karkat had never seen snow before and the troll was amazed. He spent a long time just watching it fall. John would notice him shivering; Karkat told him he had trouble keeping his body temperature up, even on a warm planet like Alternia. "Don't worry, it's normal," he tried to reassure his Matesprit. John wasn't too convinced, but trusted the troll.

They walked through the snow scouting for a suitable place to make a shelter. Karkat started beating his wings faster, a soft hum breaking the silence. "Are you sure you're ok Karkat?"  He asked again.

"I'm just warming them up."

John ran a hand over one of his wings, it wasn't cold, but it wasn't as warm as it usually is. "Tell me if it gets worse." His wings, while strong, were also very delicate, the thin membrane had no way to stay warm. "I'm really worried they'll get frost bite or something." Karkat nodded and continued beating them quickly.

"So this is what your winter is like?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"It's very beautiful, I like it." He said walking alongside John. Karkat was busy looking at their surroundings, his eyes moving from the tall trees, to the frozen streams and ponds they passed. "Hey John, what do you do when all your water freezes like that?" he pointed to a pond, "You can't use it."

The human led him over to one of the ponds, "Well, it doesn't all freeze, there's still water trapped underneath the ice." He put a foot on the ice, testing his weight. "You can drill through the ice to the water, or melt snow."

Karkat's eyes got wide as John started walking out onto the ice. "John, wait, isn't that dangerous?" John smiled and kept walking. "Wait, John, get back here!" The troll bolted onto the ice only to have his feet fly out from under him.

John was looking down at him, concern on his face, "Karkat, are you ok? Did you hit your head?"

The troll growled and sat up. "What the fuck John?"

"Heh heh, Karkat, ice is slippery, you have to watch your feet." He helped him up and patted the snow from his shoulders. "But it's really fun, see?" He ran and stopped, sliding across the ice. Karkat imitated him sliding to meet him. Their fingers intertwined and John carefully skated backwards leading Karkat. The troll followed John's movements and never looked away from his eyes.

John stopped moving but instead used the wind to push them forward. The troll clutched his shirt at first, but then got used to the movement. John would summon the wind to blow the troll from one side of the pond to the other; Karkat would stretch his arms out wide and laugh into the wind.

These moments were the ones that John loved. Karkat was smiling, and he was laughing and the world seemed so light, it was innocent, like it used to be before the game, before the threat of death. They must have spent hours playing on the ice. Pushing each other, dragging each other across the ice, slipping, taking the other down with them. They laughed and wrestled and finally were able to act like kids.

Karkat let his head rest on John's shoulder as the human used the wind to push them gently along. "John, this is nice, thanks."

John grabbed the troll's hand and agreed, and then he felt his temperature. "Holy shit, Karkat, you're freezing." He tried not to sound alarmed, but he felt like the ice they were skating on.

"Am I really?" he asked, completely oblivious.

"Yes, come on, we should get going." He moved them swiftly back to the land and they started trudging through the snow. Karkat's condition seemed to spiral downward as soon as they stepped off the ice.

The troll was now shaking pretty bad, "Karkat, we need to find a place to get out of the cold. You look terrible."

"I f-f-fucking feel t-terrible too," he stuttered and moved as close as he could to John. The boy took out one of their blankets and wrapped it around Karkat. The troll gripped it tightly burying his face in the blanket and moving forward. The two settled on a small cave they found.

"I'm sorry Karkat, we shouldn't have goofed around so much…shit it's getting late too. I'll make a fire, we won't be able to block off the entrance though." He started collected materials and building up a fire, "God, I'm an idiot. Why the hell did I think this would be a good planet to visit? We have no supplies for this kind of weather." He pulled his only jacket closer to his body.

"John, it's not your fault, we can always leave tomorrow." The troll scooted closer to the fire. "I think we can manage for one night."

One night turned into two, which lead to three. "Karkat, I don't understand, where's the transporter? We should have been able to find it by now."

"How the fuck am I supposed to know? *cough* It can't be too far away, *cough**cough* our base camp should be close to one." John looked over at his boyfriend, he was really worried about the troll, he had developed a bad cough in the past day. He took off his own coat and wrapped it around Karkat. "*cough**cough**cough* Thanks, John."

"Karkat, I think you should head in. Get out of the cold." The troll opened his mouth to argue but ended up coughing instead. He bent over and just continued to cough. "Karkat, are you ok?" The troll fell to his knees and shook. Every time he tried talking his voice was silenced by his lungs forcing air out faster than he could get it in. The boy was right beside him rubbing his back.

"I'm sorry," he gasped out, "A-Alternia was nothing like this. I'm just not used to it." He stood, wobbling and shivering. "Just give me some time to *cough* adjust."

"Karkat, I don't think you're adjusting, I think you're slowly dying, or at least getting sick."

"Ha, trolls don't get sick. That's stupid." He grumbled and stumbled forward. John caught him before he fell. "I'm just taking *cough* longer to get used to this climate."

"Karkat…" John let him lean on his body, "I don't think that's it. I think there might be something really wrong with you. You haven't been warm in days; even I've managed to stay warm. This can't be healthy for a troll. You said Alternia was tropical right? It's obvious you weren't meant for this climate." He pulled him closer, "Hey, can't you use your blood powers to warm yourself up?"

"I don't think I'm that *cough* good with them yet. I don't want to kill my*cough**cough*myself."  The trolls pace slowed and his eyes suddenly went blurry. "Shit."

"Karkat?"

The troll's legs gave out and he collapsed in the slowly falling snow.