Watching and Listening - An Empires SMP AU

Old friends

           There came cheers from the other hermits when they realized that they found Gem, and soon everyone was mining in the same direction, and this time the correct one. Soon Gem's artificial cave-in was broken through and Gem could see the relieved faces of all her friends. Pearl and Grian reached out to help pull Gem out and the elf shakily tried to stand but her broken leg made her fall back down again in a painful wince. At the sight of her broken leg, the hermits panicked. 

           Sooner or later, someone procured a healing potion and gave it to Gem to drink, and the stronger hermits decided that they were going to carry her all the way to one of fWhip's spare houses. Gem laughed as the hermits panicked over the proper way to carry an injured person. "I'm fine, you don't have to carry me," Gem tried to protest but Pearl shushed her. "No, you're hurt, and we are going to help you!" "Somehow," Impulse added, but he ducked as Pearl jokingly swung her pickax at him. 

           Somehow they managed to get to the Drip tavern without a major mishap, which was weird because fWhip and Grian were there. Although maybe it was because everyone was too worried about Gem to get chaotic. Gem honestly felt touched that she had friends like them. "Hold on Gem; we're almost there," Grian had constantly said on the way, holding her hand to reassure her. Gem smiled at the memory as she lay in one of the tavern bedrooms with a goblin doctor putting a temporary cast on her leg while she drank another healing potion. 

           "Keep it on until the healing potion finishes its job," The goblin doctor told her, and Gem nodded. "Try not to move around so much." "So that means no chopping people's heads off," Grian said with a nonchalant grin, and Gem groaned. "But I left my head collection back home!" "You heard the doctor," Impulse said, sidling up to her. "You can't take the cast off and you need to stay in bed." "He said that I shouldn't move so much," Gem corrected. "Eh, whatever he said, we'll stay here to make sure you follow," Pearl said determinedly. 

          "Have you been trapped in the cave-in this whole time?" Grian asked. Gem nodded. "Weird-looking cave-in," Impulse and fWhip said at the same time. They looked at each other in surprise and Grian said, "Jinx!" "What do you mean, weird-looking?" Gem asked. "It looked off," The dwarf and the goblin said simultaneously again, and this time Pearl was the first one to say, "Jinx!" "Hey, I wanted to do that," Grian protested. Pearl laughed. Then she turned to Gem and offered her some Sanctuary empanadas. "Here, you're probably really hungry after being stuck down there for a few weeks." 

           Gem nodded and bit into the empanada. It had gone slightly cold, but she was too busy worrying about whether Impulse or fWhip would smell a rat about the cave-in looking weird to worry about the food. "Thanks, Pearl," Gem said. Then she realized that she had to pretend she didn't know what it was, because she hadn't ever seen empanadas in the hermit world. "By the way, what is this?" "It's an empanada," Grian said. "You can get those from Sausage at Sanctuary." "Who's Sausage? What sanctuary?" Gem asked, pretending she didn't know this. Okay, this might be slightly harder than I anticipated. "Once you're all healed up Gem, we can introduce you to some new friends." 

---

           Jimmy was so fed up with fWhip and Joel. He'd just gone to work on his railway for the fifth time that day, he'd had so many interruptions that day, but then a tnt minecart came running down his railway and completely blew up one end of it. Now Jimmy had to rebuild that section all over again. He knew who it was, though. Joel and fWhip had helpfully put a label on the minecart saying it was from them and Jimmy had managed to read it before it blew up along with his beloved railway. Now all he had to do know was plan some sort of terrible revenge. 

           "Salutations, sheriff!" Jimmy looked up to see Scar swooping down next to him, deactivating his elytra. "Oh, Scar! Hi!" Jimmy exclaimed. He hadn't really seen Scar around since the hermits had first arrived. "How's it going, Jim?" "Not very good," Jimmy grumbled. He gestured at his destroyed railway and explained what Joel and fWhip had done. Scar's facial expressions shifted from pleasant to understanding to sorry to sad and back around again. 

           "And now I want revenge, but I have no idea how to get it!" Jimmy finished with an annoyed growl. "Not to mention they turned you into a toy," Scar pointed out. Jimmy gritted his teeth, not that he was sure if he had any as a toy. "Don't remind me." "Hey, do you need help with revenge?" Scar asked. Jimmy looked up at him. "Yeah, I would like that, thanks." Scar grinned. "Time for Hotguy to break out his bow!" "Just don't break it," Jimmy said. He wasn't sure who Hotguy was, but he was fairly certain it was one of Scar's alter egos. 

           "Don't worry, I'm never going to break my bow," Scar laughed. "So we're getting revenge together! This is fun." "I guess," Jimmy admitted. The idea of finally getting solid revenge on Joel and fWhip was making him feel excited in a way he hadn't felt before. "This reminds me of the life games," He said. "Hm, I wonder if we've ever teamed up?" Scar mused. The two of them thought for a second. "I don't think we have," Jimmy said at last." "Hey, there's a first time for everything." 

          There was a pause as they digested that. "Hey, can you hire me?" Scar asked, his eyes shining. "Uh, what?" Jimmy asked, confused. "Hire me to help exact your revenge on Joel and fWhip! Like give me diamonds to kill them." "Do I have to pay you?" Jimmy groaned. He wasn't exactly rich. "Well, no, but I want to tell Grian that I got hired to take someone out," Scar said. "Please?" He pleaded, making his eyes look like a puppy's and put the saddest face imaginable on. Jimmy sighed and tossed him a diamond. "Here. I hire you to kill fWhip and Joel." "Yes!" Scar cheered. 

           The two of them flew to Hermitopia so that Scar could get his Hotguy stuff and then they flew to Gobland. "So, how are we going to get revenge anyway?" Scar asked as they flew. "Are we going to commit arson?" "No," Jimmy said. "We're not burning down Gobland. There's a bunch of innocent citizens that I don't want hurt. We're just targeting Joel and fWhip." "It'll be hard to get Joel," Scar pointed out. "He's kind of a god in this wacky place." "Short god," Jimmy corrected. "He's a short god. Be sure to call him that the next time you see him!" "Okay!" 

           Soon they were in Gobland, and they snuck around looking for a specific redheaded goblin. Or at least they claimed that they were sneaking; in reality, they were really quite clumsy and everyone noticed them. They soon found fWhip leaving the Drip tavern though, and Jimmy signaled for Scar to strike. "Hotguy!" Scar shouted, leaping into the air and gliding down while brandishing his bow and shooting out a dozen arrows at once. Jimmy had to admit that Scar looked pretty cool doing that, and his dark navy outfit with orange and cyan streaks didn't hurt. 

           fWhip yelped and grabbed his shield, blocking most of the arrows. And then he dodged the ones that he didn't block. "Woah!" Jimmy and Scar shouted at the same time. They didn't expect the goblin to be so agile. Jimmy grabbed his pistol and started shooting, but fWhip dodged them as well. He grabbed his bonk stick and swung it around, nearly hitting Scar and Jimmy. "Wow, this guy should be in the life games," Scar laughed. "This is a serious matter!" Jimmy yelled, shooting again. "Right, right." 

           Their commotion attracted some onlookers. Grian, Pearl, Impulse, and what looked like a short Gem wearing a weird outfit came out of the Drip to watch the fight. "Should we break this up?" Impulse asked. "Should we sit and watch?" Gem suggested. They sat and watched. "You're doing good, Tim!" Grian shouted. Jimmy rolled his eyes and blocked a blow from fWhip's bonk stick with his shield. He winced as the shield nearly broke from the blow. 

           "Hotguy!" Scar flew up again and started to shoot, but fWhip leapt up and cracked his elytra with his bonk stick. Scar flew madly and crashed into the ground where he promptly died due to experiencing kinetic energy. "Scar, no!" Jimmy shouted, and then fWhip bonked him on the head. Jimmy's vision dimmed and he blacked out. In fact, he actually died and had to respawn at Tumble Town. "That could have gone better," Scar said humbly. "Yup," Jimmy snorted.