Blood Ties, Breath Secrets

Chapter Thirteen

While Terezi was being absolutely useless, Equius had arrived.

And he was huge.

With long black hair that graced his shoulders, chipped teeth and chipped sunglasses, he had enough muscle on him to choke a horse to death with one hand. His eyes were cool blue behind his shades as he looked over Dave with both curiosity and contempt. 

"Hello, Dave. Nepeta has told me much about you." His deep baritone shook Dave down to his bones. This was one guy you didn't want to piss off (which explains why Sollux was hiding behind Aradia).

"It's nice to meet you, dude." say Dave nervously, extending his hand only for it to be crushed in Equius' meaty grip. He could've sworn he heard bones cracking.

"I apologize if I hurt you- I often don't know my own strength. Sometimes it feels as though without Nepeta I would end up on a killing spree."

Dave felt cold sweat trickle down his back, but he tried to keep a small smile on his face despite his painfully throbbing hand. "So, Nepeta, what do you have planned for this party? Anything exciting? An orgy, perhaps?"

Terezi laughed loudly, but to be honest everyone else looked vaguely uncomfortable. "Nothing like that, Dave."

"Perhaps a test of strength, then?" said Equius coolly. 

"Exploring?" asked Aradia cheerfully. 

"No, nothing like that." Nepeta said with a feline smile. "We're going hunting."

"F--k yeah!" shrieked Terezi, brandishing a long sharp cane (where did she get that? did she have it the whole time?) with a dragon's head at its tip.

"I figured not everyone would have weapons, so I brought some that you can equip if you need to." She pulled a blue backpack off and rummaged through it, tossing out objects at random.

"Let's see- a whip for Aradia, throwing stars for Sollux, this trident for Feferi, and a sword for Dave!" Strewn around her feet were multiple sharp objects- a slender whip, a handful of shurikens, a golden trident, and- 

Sweet! A ninja sword. Dave reached for it excitedly, relishing the fact that it fit perfectly in his palm. But there was something off... "How the hell did you fit all that stuff in your tiny backpack?" asked Dave.

Nepeta smiled at him again. "Don't question my methods, just enjoy your sword." Dave shrugged, deciding not to ask any more questions. 

Wait, never mind. He lied. 

"What are we hunting? Birds, mammals... people..." He trailed off nervously, not too sure what to expect from a trip planned by Nepeta. Anyone who had a shipping wall certainly wasn't entirely sane. 

"Just deer- don't worry, I promised Feferi I wouldn't hunt down her boyfriend."

Feferi shook her head with a smile, before lifting it up and saying, "Don't we need hunting licenses? Or anything that says 'Hey, it's okay to go out in the woods and kill things'?"

Nepeta shook her head, smiling that cat's smile once more. "When you're with me, you don't need to worry about that stuff. Plus- we're not shooting anything." She held up her hands, which had been fitted with long Wolverine-esque claws. "We're much classier than that."

Dave looked down at the sword in his hands, imagining using it to slice a deer. The thought made his stomach curdle- and it must have shown on his face, because Aradia put a hand on his shoulder and smiled sweetly. "No need to look so worried, Dave. Nepeta's hunting trips never result in anything more than a few scratches... and that's only for Equius."

He smiled back at her, comforted by her words. "Thanks, Aradia."

She shrugs. "No problem. I'm happy to help- plus, when you're with Sollux, you get use to cheering up mopey losers."

"I heard that!" a reedy male voice cried indignantly. Aradia smirked at him behind her hand before running off to her boyfriend.

Dave shook his head in confusion. Everyone was just so...

Weird.

Speaking of weird, Nepeta began charging headlong into the woods with her claws extended and her green eyes huge. With everyone following after her, weapons brandished, Dave felt like he was part of some bizarre cult ritual.

Inside the woods (and once the screaming died down), he found himself enjoying it a bit more. The trees overhead and the sound of birdsong left him peaceful and comforted. Instead of searching for an animal to kill or some weird s--t, he found himself sitting on a log and looking up at the sky.

It was so awesome.

And then someone sat down next to him.

Dave turned his head nervously, expecting a blood-soaked Nepeta or Terezi's creepy tongue. 

Thankfully, it was neither of them.

Unfortunately, it was someone much worse.

"Vriska? What are you doing out here in the woods? Shouldn't you be out somewhere kissing John's ass?"

Vriska narrowed her pale eyebrows, staring at him with cerulean eyes. "No need to be rude, Dave. Maybe I'm here because I wanted to be nice! Because I wanted to help mend your broken heart!" She stood up dramatically like she was rehearsing a speech. "I need to prove my goodness to the word!"

"Sit down, Vriska. You won't convince anyone in the world that you're nice. Why are you really here?"

She pouted for a moment as if offended he was insulting her character. Thankfully, Vriska's good-girl act didn't last long and she ended up telling him the truth.

"I decided a party would cheer up John. I got together Tavros, Eridan, Gamzee, and John. We came here to wander the woods and possibly kill some s--t. Why? What are you doing here?"

Dave looked at her, his mouth twisting with confusion. "Are you s--ting me right now? Because that was Nepeta's grand plan for cheering me up. She dragged me out here to hunt stuff with Terezi and some other people."

Vriska's eyes went wide with horror, her pale face turning even paler. "Wait... you mean everyone else is in the woods? Including... who?"

"Uh..."

"Think, Dave, think! Lives may depend on it!"

"No need to be overdramatic! I think it was Equius, Sollux, Aradia, and Feferi."

Vriska groaned, burying her face in her hands as her long blonde hair made a curtain around her. "We are so utterly screwed, Dave."

"What? Why?" He asked, puzzled.

"Just because we grew up together doesn't mean we like each other! If Eridan meets Sollux, they'll tear each other apart. Equius hates Gamzee, Terezi hates me, Nepeta hates Eridan..."

"Don't you see, Dave? If our groups run into each other, my STUPID friends will tear each other apart."

Two voices echoed from opposite sides of the overgrown woods.

"Dave...?"

"Vriska...?"

Oh, s--t.