City Streets

The streets of Hemopolis are almost always shrouded by the massive palace and research facility. Those structures are so big you can see them for miles. It rains a lot too. The streets are rarely packed, most trolls staying inside.

Eridan with brisk pace makes his way towards the palace at the heart of the city. The ocean breeze finds its way trough the streets and tugs on his cape and the assortment of scrolls and papers tucked under his arm. Its salty scent is all too familiar, and perhaps comforting. He is a bit concerned with the appointment he'll be walking into shortly, but it's not one he can afford to miss, for a number of reasons.
He rounds a corner, and the smell of sea vanishes in favor of more urban ones. Like gasoline. And week-old trash. And other stuff that makes you wonder why the hell anyone would want to live here.
Fucking cities.

*Nepeta strides out of the office, flourishing a knife and twirling it idly in her hands as she walks. With no business today, Nepeta has been bored out of her mind. She slows for a bit, the palace gleaming in the distance, and gives a catty smile.*

:33 < im sure feferi isnt too busy today! i guess i could go s33 what she is up to

*Increasing her stride, Nep giggles playfully and breaks into a full on sprint, shooting thru alleyways and past a few trolls moving crates. They stumble as she flashes past and yell curses at her, but it quickly fades into the distance as she speeds ahead. She snags a pole with her left hand and yanks herself to the left, and tries to stop herself when she sees Eridan Ampora standing right in front of her*

:33 < look out!

*Unfortunately for Eridan, catgirl-huntresses have a tendency to make very little sound when running, and thus he is completely caught off-guard when one suddenly comes swinging towards him*

wwh-

*The collision sends both the seadweller and his collection of documents into a messy pile, though the former wastes no time pulling out his weapon in the progress*

YOU GOT ABOUT TWWO SECOh hey nep

*His cape gracefully drapes itself over his head*

*Nep's head spins as she stumbles to her feet then shakes her head. She spies the weapon first and immediately has her knife in hand next to her aggressor's throat*

:33 < i wouldnt recommend that if i wer- oh!

*Nep immediately sheathes her knife at her side and jumps up, offering a hand*

:33 < what are you doing here ampurra?

*Eridan shakes off the cape, then hesitates briefly before accepting Nepeta's help and then dusting himself off*

headin to an important meetin as you might havve been able to tell from wwhat used to be my best pair a pants

wwhat about you runnin around wwith a knife drawwn did you mug someone or wwhat

*Nep gasps*

:33 < you must be going to m33t up with feferi! i was just heading there myself we can walk together

*She winks at him*

:33 < i bet you will f33l safe having a big strong hunter like myself there to protect you

sure if only cause it means you cant suddenly crash into me a second time

*He goes to collect the dropped papers, but frowns when he notices the number of smudges and smears*

dammit theyre all grimy noww i cant showw these to royalty

*Nep is about to respond when she hears scurrying in an alleyway next to her. Without looking, she throws her knife. It pierces a creature with more fangs than bodymass to the wall, and it wails as it dies. Nepeta tisks*

:33 < i thought the exterminators were taking care of those lil guys!

*She sighs and grabs her knife, sheathing it. She glances back at Eridan, then strides past him, waving her hand*

:33 < cmon ampurra! we both know the royalty wont give a furreaking damn about those papers

*Eridan sends a concerned glance at the vermin Nepeta just skewered and follows her, now slightly more appreciating of her company*

no see i got twwo more copies one for each empress an one for kar but noww itll be insultin to wwhoevver gets the dirty ones
so i gotta choose betwween commitin a major faux pas or causin an inconvvenience if they wwanna read evverythin
wwhich a course they wwont cause theyre busy runnin the planet an evverythin but its impolite not to givve the option you knoww

*Nepeta rolls her eyes*

:33 < ampurra they are your friends! they dont give a damn about presentation! honestly meenah might find it offensive you are trying to be fancy here
:33 < you know how she hates that stuff

friends is pretty fuckin relativve in this case nep

*He sighs and runs a hand trough his hair*

i already talked about this thing wwith fef an she shot me dowwn so i gotta play my cards right here
meanin youre probably right an im just gonna piss off peixes number twwo if i try an act all proper fuck

*Nepeta snickers*

:33 < you went to fef first? what were you thinking

*Nep rounds the corner to the main road leading to the palace. This is the only street that has trolls out at almost any time of day. A few of them eye Nep and Eridan as they walk past, but see the badge hanging at Nep's side and quickly look away. Nep grins and motions Eridan to hurry up*

:33 < anyways youll be just fine! just go in and present your idea without any bs

heh you should knoww by noww that anythin i do invvolvves bs one wway or another

*Eridan increases his step to keep up with Nepeta, not bothered by the onlookers in the slightest*

but yeah thanks for the advvice i appreciate it

*He grins slyly*

noww if evverythin goes smoothly wwevve got a good chance of bannin house pets for good

*Nep smiles and says nothing. As they approach the gate two guards scramble to the front, weapons at the ready.*

HALT! We DeMAND FOR YOU TO CeASe AND DeSIST OR WHATeVeR!

*Nep sighs and holds up her badge. The guard in the front squints for a moment, then stands at attention*

APOLOGIeS, MA'AM! I DID NOT ReCOGNIZe YOU!

*Nep laughs and strides thru, dragging Eridan along by his arm.

wwhy dont i havve one a those

*Eridan lets himself be dragged inside*

Equius makes his way towards the palace with brisk step, avoiding eyecontact with other people.

*Nep stalks out the door, still shaking from a violent mix of emotions. She looks around for Feferi before frowning and continuing forward, only to run into Equius*

:33 < oh

Equius looks up at the sound of a familiar voice and stops dead in his tracks. He starts to sweat.

D--> O-oh

*Nepeta stares at Equius, her mind a haze of emotions. She tears up and storms past him, brushing his shoulder as she walks*

Equius freezes up, sweat dropping from his brow. He hesitates when he feels Nepeta run past him before turning around to call after her.

But the words are stuck in his troath. What could he say to her, how could he hope to approach her? He deflates a little.

He has let her down once more.

EDIT:

After a while of standing around feeling like shit, Equius remembers why he came here in the first place. He shakes his head and enters the palace.

Karkat marches through the streets with Innsta.
So where exactly wre we going?- Are, I meant where are we going.

Karkat stops and turns around, staring dubiously at Innsta.
WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE'RE GOING? THE WILDERNESS! IT'S THE ONLY PLACE WHERE YOU CAN GET SOME GODDAMN PEACE AND QUIET AROUND HERE. IT DOESN'T HURT THAT THERE'S SOME MONSTERS WE CAN TRAIN AGAINST EITHER.

Innsta gulped.
Oh boy...

DON'T BE A FUCKING WRIGGLER ABOUT THIS, IT'S NOT LIKE WE'LL RUN INTO A BEHEZMON. EVEN IF WE DID, MY WEAPONS FROM SGRUB WOULD BE ABLE TO TURN IT INTO HOOFBEAST MEAT, EASY.
Karkat shrugged, not entirely sure of the accuracy of that statement. It got him through the black king, so it should work against the likely much weaker monsters here, right?
AS LONG AS I HAVE HOLMES SM-
Karkat tried taking Holmes Smell Ya Later out of his strife deck, the weapon not coming out of the deck.
WELL SHIT.
Karkat facepalms.
I LEFT IT AT THE PALACE LIKE A FUCKING MORON.
Karkat sighs.
WHATEVER, I HAVE THE CLAWSICKLE AND THE REGISICKLE, WE'RE FINE. LET'S GO.

Tavros is walking down the city streets, kicking a can, joyful for his natural legs, but sad about being so unwanted everywhere. Even the rock he was guarding had rolled away.

*sIGH* i GUESS I JUST CAN'T CATCH A BREAK, i MUST REALLY BE THE WEAKLING WRIGGLER THAT VRISKA ALWAYS KNEW I WAS,


Tavros thinks of how Gamzee talked and rapped with him, and misses those times before Makara went on his rampage.

Innsta ran down the city streets, skidding to a halt right before she clotheslined herself on Tavros' horns. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him.
TAVROSINEESYOURHELPWEGOTTAGOTOTHECASTLEANDGETMEENAHORSOMETHINGKARKATHASGONEFUXKINGINSANEANDISRUNNNINGTOHISDEATHOUTSIDETHECASTLEWALLS!
She pointed towards outside of the city.

Tavros sighs

*sIGH*

He is still rather upset about what happened in the castle, and even though there is some joy at finally having a job to do, he's reluctant to go and help. His sense of loyalty propels him towards the alleged danger regardless.

yOU GO AND GET WHOEVER YOU NEED, i'LL UH, GO OUT AND DO WHAT I CAN UNTIL YOU COME BACK, oKAY?