Missing (Third in An Old Friend Series) //Hermitcraft & Yhs Crossover\\

12

        "Grian!" False screamed as they all ran over to him. Ren slid next to him and flipped him over, placing both hands onto Grian's quickly bleeding neck. 

        "Is... Is he..." Cub asked nervously.

        "Not yet! But he will be if we don't help him NOW!" Ren yelled and Impulse's brain started to fire neurons. 

        "I know where she kept medical supplies!" Impulse thought aloud.

        "Oh yeah, you do!" Keralis added happily before Ren looked up at the group of them surprised. 

        "Ok, less chit-chat, more saving Grian's life!" His outburst led Impulse to run down the stairs, following Ren's trail of broken doors to find somewhere he was familiar with. Finally, he found the door he remembered seeing, stepped inside, and searched for more of the supplies Yuki had given him to use. Meanwhile, Yuki, who had intentionally sliced Grian's throat, looked back at the terrified and shocked faces of his friends as the door closed behind her. She began to laugh uncontrollably as she ran, overcome with gleeful joy. That was, until she ran into something. Something somewhat soft, and slightly taller than her. Her unbridled joy was paused as she looked at what she had run into. A man. With a large helmet covering his face, and a drawn sword in his hand. She looked at him confused at first, before looking around him to see a much larger group of people, encircling and surrounding her. She took a step back and felt her back come in contact with another person. She spun, her knife raised, but her arm was grabbed onto before it could get any higher than her shoulder. She turned to see a man she had seen before holding her. A man she had stabbed and drugged, and thought she killed. He spoke with a very thick Swedish accent as he said,

        "Hello again." 

Grian could hear everything around him. He couldn't see or feel, but he could hear. He could hear the nervous shuffling of his friends around him, Ren's unsteady breaths as he carefully dressed Grian's wound. But the longer he was out, the farther away the voices got. Ren's breaths soon became distant whispers until finally, silence. He began to worry but an overwhelming calm came overcame him as he felt his body again. He was lying down, but not on wood like in the ship. He couldn't describe what it was, but it was soft. He began to stand up but as he placed his leg on the ground, he hesitated. He waited for the searing pain of his broken leg but realized as he placed it that it was fine. He stood up fully and looked around him. Pure nothingness. Nothing around him, nothing above him, just white. 

        "Grian? What are you doing here?" Grian's eyes began to water just at the sound of his voice. He turned around and saw something he hadn't seen in years. A small man with black hair, a blue shirt, black suspenders, red and blue sweatbands, and headphones slung around his neck. "You got older. And yet, you kept the red sweater." He remarked and Grian smiled. Before he knew it, he was running towards his old friend, happy tears streaming down his face. But what should have been the moment of contact between the two was halted as Grian's arms passed through Taurtis. He stood for a second, looking from his arms to Taurtis and back to his arms. 

        "I- but I-" He stuttered, his joyous tears turning to despair.

        "No no no! That's a good thing! It means you're not fully here! Not fully dead!" He smiled and Grian looked up at him confused. 

        "I'm dead?" He asked sadly.

        "That's what I'm saying, no! Someone is still trying to save you." 

        "Taurtis, I don't want to be saved! I want to stay here, with you. You're my best friend. I don't want to leave you again." Grian admitted sadly. 

        "Hey, you'll be back someday. And I'll be here waiting for you, as always!" His voice made Grian smile slightly. 

        "Taurtis, I'm so sorry." 

        "For what?" He asked confused.

        "I'm the reason you're... here. The reason you're... you're..." The word got caught in his throat, but he didn't need to finish his sentence. Taurtis did it for him.

        "Dead?" he asked, his tone dipping for the first time since Grian had gotten there. Grian looked down in shame. "Grian, I'm not dead because of you. You and I both know it was Sam who-"

        "But I-"

        "You what? Made him mad in the first place? So what. You couldn't have known he would become murderous because of an off-handed comment." Taurtis reassured him, but Grian shook his head. 

        "I should have known."

        "But you didn't." He reached out and grabbed Grian's hand, surprising himself when he was actually capable of feeling it. "Uh oh." Grian looked up at him confused.

        "What?" Taurtis raised his hand and by proxy Grian's in front of his face to show him what he had realized. 

        "They're failing."

Damn, I thought this book would be over by now, but I'm super happy to continue writing it! Also, this book just hit 2k! Yay! Thank you all so much for reading, I hope you have a good day/night, and you are loved. 

PS. If you have Netflix and haven't watched the Witcher yet, please do. It is so good and now I'm obsessed with Henry Cavill (The guy who plays the Witcher and also superman) Yeah go watch it anyway bye now see you next chapter.