Oneshots! (Mostly Hermitcraft)

A Hell Within My Head [Cub]

A ravager was blocking his usual path on the right, but he managed to dodge it, breaking its line of sight around a pillar and continuing deeper into the dungeon. A key appeared on the floor in the basement of the crypt and he scooped it up, collecting a few more berries and racing up the stairs, minding the shriekers between himself and the kneeling man. The doors chimed and opened, allowing him to run down into the stairwell.

The voices cheered as he was halfway through level two, a ravager on his tail. They were thrilled by his progress, but their enthusiasm nearly sent him to his knees and an early death as he vaulted over a fence to escape the beast. His ankle twinged on impact, but he shook it out. The injury was nothing, so he paid no attention to it as he continued searching for the key.to the third level.

Willie's trident whizzed by his face as he swam through the lake, checking the various alcoves for the Black Mines key. The voices began to panic, filling his mind with their screams and yells. The trident grazed his leg, sending a cloud of blood into the water before his natural player magic sealed the laceration into a barely visible scar. Cub pushed himself faster, stroking through the water toward dry land.

A key rested on the mossy cobblestone and he picked it up with an audible sigh of relief, venturing back to the water's edge. Willie was off to his right, near the back of the ship. Taking a deep breath, he dived, stroking through the water.

The trident slammed into his side. Willie was moving toward him steadily, trident poised to throw again. Cub pressed a hand to his side and kicked furiously for dry land. Luck and miscalculation were not on his side as the trident sent waves of pain through his body, piercing his back, the central prong protruding from his chest. His vision went red from the pain, then black as he respawned, gasping for air on the bed. The three, individual points where the trident had struck still pulsated with thick, radiating, phantom pain.

Sighing, he pressed the button to turn off the game and collected his items, leaning against the wall as he waited for his deck to be returned. Once it came, he opened the door and returned to the lobby, going back to the dojo and logging his run.

Footsteps at the entrance of his cubby hole caused him to glance up from his writing. Tango came up to him, popping down a stair and sitting down on it, clearly waiting for Cub to finish.

"Hey Tango!" Cub said, pushing down the voices and plastering a smile on his face. "Just logging my run, as usual."

Tango nodded and said, "Just checking in. You seem off this morning, Cubby."

"Who, me? No, I'm doing well, Tango, no need to worry," Cub assured him, doing his best to look like he wasn't fending off the voices in his head with a pebble.

Tango raised an eyebrow. "Willie was clearly in the front of the ship, where you were swimming. The drowned at the back was an armour stand model."

"You were testing me?" Cub asked flatly.

Tango nodded, straight to the point. "I thought you seemed off, so I planted it while you were in level one."

Cub laughed humourlessly. "You got me good, man. I genuinely thought that was Willie."

Tango smirked. "Maybe I'll leave it in for the next hermit, then." He leaned forward, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "Really, Cub, how are you?"

Cub hesitated, looking directly into his eyes. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said softly, standing and looking for the next shard.

"Try me," Tango challenged, following his lead and picking up his impromptu chair.

Cub smiled, pushing down on the clamouring voices. "I'm fine, Tango."

Tango huffed but didn't say anything else. Taking that as his cue to leave (the dungeon had reset while they talked), Cub made his way back to the entrance to do more runs, this time setting the difficulty to Deep Frost. He needed the distraction, the voices needed the distraction, and Tango needed the distraction.