Legacies || Hermitcraft

Chapter XXIII - The Knight

"It's okay Iskall, let them be." False assured them, Iskall slowing their pace to walk alongside her and Xisuma. "We have a long trip ahead of us, we might as well let them have some fun along the way."

"That's fair..." Iskall sighed, watching as the three chased each other along the rocky dirt paths. "But I still don't understand why we even have to make this trip in the first place."

"Believe me, I'd rather avoid having to make it too." Xisuma admitted, a hint of frustration creeping into his tone of voice that the Hermits rarely heard. "But it's important that we check in with the Admins every few months to make sure things are running smoothly, especially seeing as we're such a large group."

Before Iskall could say anything else, a loud crash and two yelps drew the entire group's attention to Mumbo and Ren, who were back in their humanoid forms and awkwardly entangled with one another in a pile on the ground. Next to them Etho was trying (and failing) not to laugh, and with a heavy sigh Iskall ran to Ren's side.

"What did I say, Ren? What did I say?" They scolded, lifting Ren to his feet before glancing down at Mumbo with a furrowed brow and hesitantly offering him a hand. Mumbo frowned back, clearly unhappy with the blatant disdain on their face, but took Iskall's hand nonetheless and dusted his shirt off upon standing up. Iskall snickered. "What, afraid of a little dirt, pretty boy?"

Mumbo's face turned almost as red as his scarlet irises, his exasperation leaving him at a temporary loss for words. "Well- I- I... I'll have you know I'm afraid of very few things, actually!" He claimed, crossing his arms and glaring at Iskall.

"Boo!"

Mumbo shrieked at a humiliatingly high pitch, jumping from his shock and almost falling back into the mud again. Behind him, Cub and Scar stood wearing identical grins, the latter glancing over at his fellow vex and nodding in Iskall and Mumbo's direction. "You could cut that tension with a knife, couldn't you Cub?"

"Agreed, Scar." Cub replied, and now it was Iskall's turn to go red in the face. "Although I don't think they agree with us just yet."

"Oh come off it Cub!" Mumbo snapped. "Don't act like we haven't seen you making eyes at Scar every time he turns his back!"

Confused, Scar turned to Cub with a raised brow, but before Cub could defend himself all four of them were cut off by a frustrated sigh from Cleo. "All four of you can come off it, you're blocking the path." She pointed out, gesturing to a stranger coming in the opposite direction to them. The stranger didn't seem to notice or care about the large group obscuring his way, and simply kept walking.

"Good morning!" Xisuma exclaimed brightly as he passed him by. The stranger didn't say anything, either ignoring X or simply not hearing him, and judging by the state he was in, Xisuma wasn't surprised if the latter was the case. The man looked as if he was running purely on autopilot, his blonde hair and clothes a dishevelled mess and dark circles beneath his dull blue eyes. Not wanting to take the stranger's abrasiveness too personally, Xisuma simply kept walking, the Hermits following behind him in a single file line.

And, just like everyone else in front of and behind him, Impulse did the exact same thing, passing the stranger by and paying little attention to him. That is, until the two of them accidentally bumped into one another, and without warning a red hot sensation of pain burned his skin where they had touched. Impulse gave a surprised and pained shout, the stranger having a similar reaction and falling back in surprise.

The Hermits all turned around with a mix of surprised, concerned and confused expressions, watching as the stranger sat up with an equivalent expression on his own face. Concerned for both Impulse and the (evidently distressed) stranger before him, Xisuma took a step forward. He wasn't even thinking, led purely by an instinct he knew well and trusted by now. From the corner of his eye, he saw False briefly attempt to hold him back, but she ultimately lowered her hand. Even beneath his helmet, she recognised the expression on his face and knew that now was not the time to interfere.