Chapter 5

The meal was fairly pleasant, even if it wasn't up to Karkat's standards. He supposed he'd better get used to it. Gog knows how long I may be stuck here for. He exited the tavern with the rest of the group, still hanging back despite the mostly warm welcome. He still wasn't fully comfortable with them, and he knew for a fact that Psiioniic was definitely uncomfortable with him, so he stayed quiet and threw the hood on his new cloak up over his head. The group walked along the street for a while, chatting about this and that, casually enjoying their simple conversations. But Karkat wasn't really paying much attention. His mind was drifting into a troubled place, and questions he couldn't find the answer to hovered about. How did I get here? The last thing I remember is hanging out with Dave on the meteor and then... nothing. Did Strider fuck me over with his time powers or something? No, he couldn't pull off any crazy shit like this, let alone manage to put me within walking distance of my anscestors whereabouts. Maybe Aradia...? That seems slightly more likely. She's capable of some pretty weird stuff... but why? Why throw me back here? That's a piece that doesn't fit. Karkat kicked at a pebble with his shoe, staring blankly at it as it bounced away, clicking against the street as it went. More importantly, how do I get back? Can I even get back? His heart sunk at the thought. He didn't want to be stuck here forever. He was so deep in thought that when he finally looked up, he realized he was no longer with the group. He must've been so focused, that hadn't noticed they'd taken a turn down another path. "Oh fantastic." He growled under his breath. "Greak job Vantas, you just managed to get yourself lost twice in one day. Congradulations fuckass, you're a real winner." He looked around where he stood, but found no trace of his commrades amongst the many other trolls that walked the streets.He groaned in fustration, and started to work his way back the way he came. When he met with a diverging path, he turned onto it, taking a guess that the others might have done the same. However, he soon began to think otherwise. As he went forward, the buildings around him began to grow more and more shabby. Some of them looked like they were rotting away, with broken windows and holes in the roofs. Others looked too small to have even one troll living in them, and they might as well have been slightly larger than average closets. He also noticed more of the trolls he passed by looked rather rugged, their clothes wearing out and their faces grim. This place was starting to make Karkat uneasy, and he subconsciously began to quicken his pace. Soon, the hair on the back of his neck was beginning to stand up, and he started to feel like he was being followed. He tried to tell himself he was being ridiculous but, out of anxiety, he glanced over his shoulder and looked behind him. Someone was keeping a very steady pace behind him, and Karkat felt a chill creep down his spine. He turned his gaze forward and breathed in shakily, speeding up again ever so slightly. He had entered the bad part of town, alone, and now he had to think of some kind of plan to escape from the shadow that crept along behind him. And fast.