Chapter 10

The three didn't return until nearly dawn. Karkat was lying on the floor with his back to the entrance of the cave when he heard them return. He had told Rosa he was going to sleep, but after the previous day's events he just couldn't, despite his exaustion. He listened as they shuffled into the cave, and as Rosa's soft footsteps went to meet them. "How did it go?" She whispered. Signless let out a soft sigh before quietly replying, "It went well. You were right about there being a larger group. Fortunately, we kept the arguments down to a minimum." Karkat listened as they moved around a bit, presumably setting themselves in a sitting position. "Tho I gueth that meanth we'll be moving on from thith town then?" Psii asked. Dis let out a barely audible whimper. "Aw, and I really liked this place too." Signless answered with a slight tone of dissapointment. "Yes we are. There's nothing more for us to do here, and we still have plenty of other town to visit." Rosa murmured her agreement, then paused for a moment before asking, "What about Karkat?" He could almost feel all eyes turn on him, and Karkat resisted the urge to shift in discomfort. "He's coming with us of course." Signless said matter-of-factly. Psii wasn't as sure. "Really? Aren't we thuppothed to be helping him home?" Signless answered very pointedly. "We are. But this clearly isn't his home, so having him stay here by himself would be pointless. If he comes with us, we may end up finding his home along the way." Dis purred in agreement. "Right. We can't pawssibly leave him here after we purromised we'd help." Signless laughed softly. "Besides, I'm growing to enjoy his company." Karkat felt something stir inside him, and he wasn't sure if it was a good or bad feeling. "By the way, if you can pardon my nosiness, what is it that you talked with him about?" Rosa inquired. Signless shuffled a bit. "Just wanted to get to know him a little better, find out some of his opinions." Psii huffed in mild annoyance. "You athked him what he thought about the hemothpectrum, didn't you?" Signless chuckled sheepishly. "Yes.. but he actually shares my views though! He doesn't believe that classifying a troll by their caste is right either. Even at his young age, he understands that a lower blood can be just as valuable as a higher one." Wow, way to sweeten my words. Karkat thought, recalling the orginal way he had phrased it. "Really? That's intersting. I wouldn't have expected him to have as bold of feelings about this as you." Dolarosa mused thoughtfully. "Geez, lookth like you found yourthelf a perfect match. It'th like a thmaller verthion of you. Even hith hornth are thimilar." Psii was clearly joking around, but it still made Karkat feel uneasy that he could make such an easy comparison. "Oh don't be ridiculous. Sharing an opinion doesn't mean we're exactly alike." Signless said, having it be followed up by a yawn. "Anyway, we should get some sleep. We'll need to be ready for the trip tomorrow." The others muttered their agreement, and Karkat listened and they all moved about and eventually settled. He laid there awake for a while longer, contemplating what he had just heard. In the end he simply decided he had better try to get some sleep in. He closed his eyes. Ready or not, he was going to head out and see more of the world come tomorrow night.