Rock Between Us (Stardew Valley Fanfic)

Situated

"At least things can't get worse for me."

Sebastian leaned against the side of the trail; his eyes clamped shut as he attempted to block out the pain as well as the urge to fall asleep, at least until someone, anyone could get to him and jolt him awake every so often because falling asleep was not ideal when he didn't know what kind of injuries, even if a part of his mind kept telling him he needed to rest, and the pain would subside.

His mind, he knew, was lying to him, trying to utilize the physical instinct to rest and heal against him.

The worst part was the urge to cry, for he wasn't used to expressing a flood of emotion to come rushing out. "If it were just me wanting to cry over the pain of it all, it wouldn't be a problem, but..."

He was alone, and at that moment, he found himself, someone who preferred being alone most of the time, suddenly wishing he wasn't. He found himself admitting in the back of his mind that there was a level of fear there that he wouldn't ever make it out of that place, one which shook him to his core as he was there, all alone, waiting for anybody to rescue him.

"It's going to be a bit before that happens."

He let out a sigh, only to wince, not from pain from breathing but from how he'd accidentally moved another part of his injured body. Choice curse words came out, and there was that urge to punch something, which would have happened if he had not been injured the way he was. Slowly, Sebastian took a deep breath, careful not to move himself, taking in the fresh mountain air.

"I'm alive. And that's what matters. That, and I'm going to stay alive no matter what everyone else thinks. I'm going to stay alive because I can, and I can because I am who I am." Which, in turn, didn't make sense and simply made the depressing thoughts of what right he had to try and fight, making him swallow. Absentmindedly, he reached into his bag, pulling out—

Sebastian stared at the broken screen, his eyes widening slightly.

"I was going to call Sam."

And then he thought to himself—

"Sam would be pissed if I gave up, but I need to even if I don't deserve to live. And that way, everyone can call me for the idiot I am."

Not to mention it bothered him that what was supposed to be new equipment broke as it did. It bothered him that unanswered message to Yuichiro that he'd left on the back burner simply because he wasn't in the mood to deal with the emotional stress of his father's family that he'd been avoiding for years.

"I wish Yuichiro was here, even if he was treating me like crap as he always does because at least I wouldn't be alone. I mean..."

He paused, hearing the sound of something moving. His head turned, his breath drawing in at the sound of some kind of movement up the trail, yet he knew that particular sound.

"It's a slime."

Slime, of course, made that squishy sound as they moved, but they usually weren't much of a threat. Sometimes, they'd let you approach them and touch them if you knew how to do so. Demetrius was the one who taught him how to approach slimes while telling him that, no, that didn't mean he could have one as a pet as Robin would kill the two of them, him doubly so.

"What happened? I mean, we did at one point get along, didn't we? I mean, I do tend to forget those kinds of moments, but he, despite being a stepparent, did, in fact, have the time of day for me, unlike..." Sebastian's eyes drifted down to his lap. "Unlike her. The bitch. Which, I wasn't exactly nice to Yuichiro either at times because I'm quite sure I called him an S.O.B. at times, which only got me into more trouble with the family."

He could hear the slime move closer, and his hand moved into the bag, pulling the blade he brought with him, only to realize at that moment there was a problem. Despite the realization, he kept his hand on the knife, swallowing.

"I can take them, despite my injuries, but I don't think I'll be in a state after to stay awake on my own. If there are too many of them, I might become overwhelmed. There must have been some damage to the cave system, so they're now flooding out of the caves into this area. This is just my luck, just like it was just my luck that brand new equipment broke. Mom's definitely not going to let me out of the house after this, let alone the basement. Fuck."

The slimes were getting closer, and he turned his head so he could face them. A chill ran down his spine, his throat tightening as his fingers tightened around the blade, noting there weren't just green slimes but blue and a large one.

"Ah, crap."

Slowly, he moved, bracing himself, wondering how he would get out of this, realizing then that while he might be able to take on one or two slimes with his injuries, there was absolutely no way he'd be able to take on that many, let alone a large one. And he felt sick to his stomach, but thinking his mother might lock him in the basement was the least of his worries.

"Move, arm, move." He thought, choosing to move his injured arm despite the pain, latching his hand onto the blade, completely prepared to fight them off, the thought of being dead and there being nobody for anyone to find—he was already nauseous enough as it is. He took a deep breath. "I wish Yuichiro was here or dad."

To which he suddenly heard—