MCYT RANDOMNESS 2

Perpetual Motion Pt 2

Tw: needles

PoV: Scar

'Cub! I'm back!' I call as I land back in Cub's canyon after a long and useless Boatem meeting. No reply. 'Cub?' I run through the paths, following the light of my necklace until I reach where I was before. 

And stop.

Cub sits against the wall, staring blankly out at a sea of torn paper and the remains of the pinboard.

'Sh- S***...' I mumble. I shouldn't have left. I shouldn't have left him alone. 'Cub?'

'I never thought my whole view of the world being turned upside down would be so freeing,' he muses to the ground.

'Cub what happened?' I sit next to him. He doesn't seem to notice.

'Science is wrong. The moon... The moon's...'

'You saw.' I understand. 'Y-you saw the moon was big and...' His focus snaps to me, eyes bright and mad.

'Let's talk about what else we might be wrong about... Like... maybe we don't actually need sleep.'

'S- Sleep's important, Cub...' I can't stop my voice from shaking, the tears from falling. I want to hide Cub down here, convince him that everything will be ok, the moon's normal, the server's safe. But I can't. The hermits would worry. He wouldn't believe me. 'Y-you need sleep...'

'Maybe. Maybe not. Who can tell... Magic? Hey, maybe Watchers aren't evil. Maybe Xisuma's bad and EX is really nice... ANYTHING could be true Scar, how amazing is that?' His claws dig into my shoulders, forcing me to stay there, staring into blue eyes so distant from the rational, intelligent Cub I never thought I'd lose. 

'Cub please...' I try and fail to free myself. 'J- just sleep for a bit, and everything will be ok.'

'I mean... who KNOWS what we're wrong about... maybe this reality, Hermitcraft, everything we've ever know, maybe it's all a dream. And the only way to wake up is to die.'

'Cub, stop this. Get some sleep, go outside, j- just calm down...'

'Don't you GET IT SCAR? Nothing is worth it. Nothing matters. Everything changes. Everything's wrong, or right, and it doesn't care about logic or science, or rules. The universe just IS. Nothing. Matters.'

'Of course stuff matters!'

'We die, and then we respawn... the sun sets, and then it rises, the moon wanes, and then it waxes. Summer's gone, and then it's back again. Everything's moving perpetually but THIS - the MOON- the moon's freed itself. Maybe we can free ourselves too.'

'What are you TALKING about, Cub?!'

'Freedom!'

'From what?'

'Normality. Rules. Systems. Life.'

'You're talking nonsense, Cub!' I snap. 'You need sleep... you- you haven't slept properly in weeks...'

'I said I don't need sleep!'

'You're exhausted. You're going insane. Just sleep, and everything will be ok. Life will be ok. Life will continue...'

'Scar you don't UNDERSTAND!' His claws dig even deeper, desperation filling a voice little more than a mad snarl.

'Of course I understand, Cub! You thought the- the moon, and the sky, and the stars would always keep to the same rules, and now they haven't  you've lost your faith in... in everything. But I know one thing that will never change and that's me. I'll always be here for you, Cub. ALWAYS. We'll get through this together. I promise.'

'Then join me.' He stands, pulling me after.

'Join what?'

'Escape.' The madness in his eyes is clearer than ever. I back away. He keeps approaching. 'Escape the moon. However we can. Anything could work. F*** sense, and science. Let's- let's shoot a cow over the moon! Maybe that will work. Or we could destroy everything before he moon gets a chance to. Or kill ourselves and escape everything. See what's beyond...'

'Cub, please...'

'Maybe we build our own moon. Or a fake server in the sky to lure the moon towards that instead. Maybe- maybe we threaten the moon by eating so much cheese it thinks we'll eat it too.'

'Cub, I said calm down.' I have to plead, edging towards the door. 'Just... calm down, maybe write a list of these ideas somewhere... I just need to... go... and... find... more hermits to... help- us... so... ok! Bye Cub! I'll...'

'STAY!'

I'm pinned to the ground.

'Stay with me, Scar,' he whispers, insane, as I claw for freedom. 'Join me. Don't- don't leave me here... don't abandon me too.'

'You need help, Cub!' I choke out. 'You need sleep, and you need to listen to me.' As I talk I shift my arm close enough to type on my communicator.

You whispered to Xisuma: HELP

You whispered to Xisuma: CUB'S BASE

You whispered to Xisuma: GET FRIAN

Xisuma whispered to you: Omw 

'What are you- NO!' 

'I HAD to! You're scaring me, Cub!'

'I trusted you.' Betrayal cuts deep into his voice and deeper in my heart. 

'You need help! This isn't you!'

'Well maybe I'VE changed too!'

Cub lets go, just for a second. I scramble for freedom.

Pain.

I cry out as some blade slashes my arm. If I hadn't moved, I realise, it would be through my neck. I scramble to my feet, clutching my bleeding arm, and turn to face Cub. In one hand he grips a bloody vex dagger.

He tried to perma-kill me.

'CUB STOP THIS!' I sob, backing into the corner. All the rationality, the humanity, is gone from his face. 

'Stay.'

'Y-you're not thinking straight, Cub. Just calm down... Everything will be ok... Everything will be ok...' But at this point I'm talking to myself. I can't escape. Cub tried to kill me. My best friend. The Hermit I could always rely on.

'I'm trying to SAVE YOU!' He attacks again. I flinch, eyes closed, expecting death. 

Nothing.

I open my eyes. Cub's struggling against Xisuma, who's holding a needle to his neck.

'It's sleeping potion. If you don't calm down I'm going to use it.'

'F*** off.' Cub keeps fighting. 'F*** off with your rules, and- and normality and sense and SCIENCE.' He spits like it's a curse.

'Cub, calm down or I'm sedating you. 3, 2, 1...'

Cub slumps down, unconscious. Xisuma lowers him to the ground. I start sobbing, and can't stop, unable to look any longer.

'He's ok. He'll sleep for long enough to get him somewhere where he can't hurt anyone,' he explains.

'Scar, are you alright?' Grian, hugging me.

'He tried to kill me...' 

'S***...'

'He saw the moon and- and... I've never seen him that- that...' I can't describe it. Xisuma's started wrapping bandages around my bleeding arm as Grian keeps comforting me. I stare over at Cub. He looks so peaceful. Normal. Not the insane, hopeless Cub I had to deal with. I should've been there for him. I should've been there to help. 

'I didn't realise it was this bad... you should've said something at the meeting, Scar,' Grian says.

'He was alright before! Well... he certainly wasn't like- like THAT...'

'I'm sure he'll be calmer when he wakes up... we should get him somewhere better... Scar, do you know any good places?'

I nod, standing. Grian follows, Xisuma carrying the sleeping Cub again, letting me take the lead out into the blinding moonlight.