Karkat

Dirk's Logbook:
Log Two, Part Two, June 22nd, 2021.
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Six days ago, on June 16th, 2021, Karkat was found in a coiled, bloated mass in his chambers, eyes lifeless and skin cold to the touch, next to a frantic and sobbing Eridan. No pulse was found when we could pry Eridan away long enough to search for one. Despite attempts to separate Eridan from Karkat's corpse, he refused to leave, pushed on the edge of waxing aggressive towards the clan for their intrusion to his grieving process. Watching the bloat redistribute itself as Eridan nearly strangled it through his tears, the ragdolled, pale meat looking like it would pop at any moment... the whole thing was mortifying. Eridan eventually succumbed to exhaustion and when he awoke, his eyes were almost as vacant as Karkat's themselves.The clan was in mourning. What would we do? What could we do? We had suffered a great loss that day, it had seemed, and with Eridan unresponsive to outside stimuli and refusing to eat, even needing to be coaxed to drink water, things looked like it would only be a matter of weeks before we suffered yet another one.
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The clan was frozen, and yet, we had no time to waste. More than a few new additions to the clan were being made that day, with the discovery of Obelisks, and the corpse would not last if it was already bloating. We had to get to work. I had the unpleasant task of delivering the news to my boyfriend, Jake, so that he could start on gathering clan members from all areas of the sea of a thousand currents to bring them back for Karkat's final rites (though, as Angelia and Aurun had gotten ahold of the other messengers, I felt like they should have handled that.) A handful of seers, as well as Oxide, who fought alongside Karkat and Eridan in the coliseum, were rushing to prepare for the funeral. Witches and reef dwellers were preparing herbs and floral arrangements. Juggling so many things at once... we thought the clan might fall apart, though Cryp managed to keep us together, even though her own head was spinning from all the madness.
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Four days later, Eridan's terrified shrieking erupted from Karkat's chambers. Clan members were scrambling to make it in to help, the Imperials nearly squashing other dragons as their massive forms slithered through the halls. Dragons would make it into the chamber only to find Karkat's corpse writhing, thrashing with reckless abandon against his final resting place, and against Eridan, who clamored away in panic. To the clan's horror, there was something living in Karkat's dead body. Screams erupted from the crowd of dragons as the carnage began to show through thin, pale skin. Whatever 'it' was wanted its way out. One last unified shriek as a claw 'unzipped' Karkat at the seams of his underbelly, and as the form emerged, the clan flushed of their colors, chewing on the inside of their cheeks.
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From a now still cadaver emerged a small spiral - almost a hatchling, but, not quite, formed of dark, goopy substance and covered in... a jellied blood, similar to the slime 'it' was made of, with glowing red eyes. This spiral spoke, and with 'its' voice, came the realization that this was, indeed, Karkat, reborn. Why he didn't tell anyone what was happening is anyone's guess, but I think I'll kick him in the shins if he does it again. Eridan would probably kick him harder if he wasn't so damn fond of him. That spiral is who you see now, happier than he's ever been, though it'll take a while for him to regain his size and strength to be able to fight alongside Eridan and Oxide again. - Dirk, ID #67448153
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