Just The Two Of Us- A Hermitcraft/Ethubs Fantasy AU

Chapter One

BDubs opened his eyes with a cross mutter as he felt something hit him across the back of the head.

"Hey, moss boy. Get out of bed." The teen glanced at the book that had been thrown at him before sitting up and glaring at the person stood by the end of the bed.

It was a boy with messy dark brown hair, dark blue eyes that were hidden behind (rather obnoxious, in his personal opinion) a pair of sunglasses. He had dark brown (almost-black, a much darker shade than his hair) wolf ears poking out of his hair, and the wolf tail that was swishing back and forth in an almost frustrated way was the same colour.

Namely, his friend Ren (who, alongside BDubs' friend Doc, always found it necessary to be up by eight in the morning).

"Make me." He retorted, pulling his tongue at the dog hybrid (or wolf hybrid- nobody was quite sure).

The brunette responded to BDubs' challenge by pulling the covers off of him before walking closer, picking the Floran hybrid up and dropping him on the floor. "Okay, you're up, great!"

BDubs glared at his friend, muttering ominously under his breath as he got to his feet. "Okay, I'm awake. Jeez. What is it this time?" He asked wryly.

"Doc decided to go on a walk by the river again. So we have to go with him." Ren said, referring to the green-skinned, brunette creeper hybrid with goat horns and a bionic arm (who never wore a shirt for some reason) who was the oldest and easily the tallest of the trio.

"Oh. That's... not too bad actually!" BDubs said, brightening slightly. "Let's go!"

"See? Waking up 'early'-" Ren did air quotes at this statement, "isn't always so terrible!"

"Oh, shut up."

——

The two quickly met up with Doc, who, as soon as the walk began, started excitedly talking to Ren about a new redstone project he had started with a friendly Blazeborn named Tango. BDubs, of course, was a redstone genius (despite the amount of laughter that statement was met with every time he said it) but he didn't particularly care that much about redstone.

The brunette, as a Floran hybrid, was much more interested in flowers and bushes and gardens and nature and bushes- did he mention bushes? BDubs loved bushes a lot. Bushes were cool.

The walk continued for a while until they reached the usual shaded clearing that the three hung out in. It was shaded because of the interlocking leafy tree branches that covered it, and bright patches of flowers that BDubs had grown over the past year and a half were scattered across the grass.

BDubs took his usual seat next to the mossy oak tree, summoning a handful of bright yellow flowers- daffodils- from the earth. "Ren, get your butt over here and stop flirting with Doc, I'm making you a flower crown and you don't get a choice."

Ren let out a muttered protest- something along the lines of 'I'm not flirting with Doc, shut up moss boy'- before walking over to him and sitting next to the shorter brunette with a sigh. "What is your obsession with making flower crowns?" The dog hybrid asked with a huff- although he didn't sound mad, more curious than anything. "You make one, like, every time we come here."

"They're just... fun to make, I guess." BDubs said with a shrug. "I have Floran abilities, why not use them?"

"Fair. Although I don't think I've ever seen you make Doc a flower crown." Ren said, turning to the creeper hybrid. "Why is that?" BDubs shot a significant look at Doc.

"Try and make me a flower crown and I'll make you eat your hands." Doc threatened, pulling his tongue, and Ren let out an alarmed yelp as BDubs laughed.

"That's why." The teen informed the dog hybrid.

"That's a very colourful threat, Mr M77." Ren said, letting out a quiet laugh as the creeper hybrid pulled a face. "Why don't you like flower crowns?"

"Because the flowers will just die within like- a day. There's no point." Doc said bluntly.

"I swear I've seen you wearing one of BDubs' flower crowns before." Ren said, laughing.

"He let me make it for him to cheer me up because I was sad we had to move because of the humans." BDubs informed him, brightening slightly as he placed the completed flower crown on Ren's head. "Done!"

"Speaking of that..." Ren exchanged an awkward glance with Doc, who sighed.

"G spotted a group of humans a few miles away from here while he was walking in the woods with Mumbo." The creeper hybrid said quietly, referencing the over-enthusiastic parrot hybrid who was known for pranking and the black haired vampire who was known for being dragged along on many of Grian's pranks.

"Wait, what?" BDubs glanced between Ren and Doc with a mildly alarmed expression.

"Yyyeah... X said he was gonna check it out about an hour ago, actually." Oh no. If Xisuma (the Enderian hybrid who was widely regarded as the leader of the village, and who's name nobody knew how to pronounce) had gone to check it out, it was likely to be something relatively serious.

"Does that mean we have to move? Again? That's like- the third time in the last few years!" BDubs protested, his voice cracking slightly. I really like this place though.

"Yeah. Probably." Doc said, pulling a face. "Otherwise the humans will find us and-"

"Violently murder and/or enslave us because they're terrible. I know." The Floran hybrid grumbled. "You've given me this lecture many times."

"I think that says more about you than it does about me." Doc said wryly, getting to his feet with a huff. "Actually, X should be getting back soon, so we should probably head back as well."

"Oh. Ok." I really hope we don't have to leave.

——

BDubs was not ready for the chaos he faced when the three reached the village. He stared at the carnage, frozen in place as Ren skidded to a halt beside him.

He vaguely heard the dog hybrid whisper, "It's all on fire," before Doc pushed past them with a panicked shout, running into the village and out of sight.

Ren stepped forwards to follow him but BDubs pulled him away, behind a tree. "It's not safe." The Floran hybrid whispered.

"But Doc-"

"If we go after him, nothing good will happen."

Ren fell silent, and the two watched in agonised silence as their friends were captured by humans- some of them killed.

BDubs just about thought that they were safe when one of the humans noticed them.

It was a boy not much older than himself with dark brown hair, dark green eyes and scars across his face and neck. He had been standing to the side the whole time, not helping the other humans but not stopping them either. BDubs froze as the brunette's gaze flicked to them, and he shook his head silently.

The boy said nothing, staring at them with a slightly anxious expression. One of the other humans, a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, followed his gaze with a furious shout.

Everything else was a blur- his and Ren's vain attempts to run, Ren's attempt to distract them so that BDubs could get away-

And then something hit the back of his head and everything went dark.

Starting off with some (kind of) angst, woo :D

Etho will be introduced next chapter dw