Hermitcraft: Origins

24 - Bravery Has Its Limits

"No, it's okay."

Tango gave him a doubtful look but kept placing blocks.

There was a fine line between brave and stupid. But he wanted to show that he, an angel from the gates of Heaven, would survive literal Hell. He wanted to show that he could be brave. But he certainly wasn't showing courage by screaming like a little girl and running around like a headless chicken. A Tangy chicken.

Zed was so caught up in his thoughts that he nearly rammed into Tango, almost sending them both toppling into the lava. Both Tango's clothes and Zed would burn easily.

Tango stopped, the narrow bridge now right over the fortress. He turned to Zed. "Ready?"

Nope.

"Yep!"

The two of them fell down. Tango landed softly, but Zed's ankles decided to give in, dropping him onto the dark red floor awkwardly.

Tango chuckled quietly, extending a hand. "You okay, Zeddie?"

"I'm alright." Zed's voice cracked.

"We should be looking for a staircase that leads down," Tango said, looking around. "It either leads to some Nether wart or a loot chest, which is good either way."

The metallic clangs were louder now. Zed spotted a staircase nearby and practically ran for it, desperate to get away from whatever monster that was.

The staircase led to a long hall, where a chest waited for them at the end.

A sharp poke behind Zed made him jump, then he realized it was Tango. He chuckled, then studied Zed's face. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yep! Stellar..."

Tango ran down the hall to check the chest. Zed fidgeted with his armor.

"It's not that great," Tango called from down the hall. "Just some saddles and one gold ingot."

"I mean, X could use the saddle to ride Reuben," Zed laughed, fixing his chest plate.

"No way. He'd find that cruel." Tango closed the chest and turned to face Zed. His red eyes widened suddenly. "Zed--!"

"Yeah, very funny." Zed took off his helmet, attempting to fix his tousled hair. "Pretending there's something behind me so I turn and look. I know your tricks by now!"

"No, I'm serious!" Tango broke out into a run.

Zed laughed, but stopped short when he heard the clattering.

He turned around and saw a black skeleton lunge at him with a sword.

Zed moved too slowly. He managed to avoid being stabbed in the chest, but the sword scraped his arm as he dodged.

Then came the wither effect.

The wound turned black, spreading outwards and cracking his skin. Zed doubled over, suddenly feeling like he had taken a direct hit from that sword--his vision darkened--

Tango shoved Zed to the side, thrusting Cub's sword out and slicing the wither skeleton's head off.

Zed felt like he was dying. The infected wound had spread and covered most of his arm. He managed to suck a few breaths in, then promptly gagged at the attempt.

He could faintly hear Tango rushing around and trying to heal him. "The wither effect should be over by now--Zed, try to breathe--there's gotta be a healing potion somewhere--"

Zed gasped for air--and suddenly his vision cleared. He sat up and dry heaved, his wounded arm screaming in pain.

"Oh, thank Notch." Tango tackled Zed in a tight hug. "I would never have forgiven myself if you'd died on my watch."

"What if I had died on Cub's watch?" Zed tried for some lighthearted banter.

"That sounds like a him problem."

Jokes aside, Tango took Zed's and studied the wound. It was still blackened from the wither effect, and the skin around the cut was cracked. Tango gently prodded it, and Zed hissed quietly. It still stung.

"Who's the cat now?" Tango muttered. "I know I have some string here..."

Zed dug through his inventory, grabbing some wool. "Here. Grian dropped this down when we were stuck in the ravine. You can make a bandage."

Tango fiddled with the material, gritting his teeth as he tried to make the cloth. When he was done, he wrapped it around the wound. Some of the cracked skin still peeked out, though.

"Why did the effect stay for so long? It usually only lasts for maybe 15 seconds. That was a good 45." Tango looked at the wound again. "Maybe it's because you're from the Aether. Nether mobs might have a bad effect on you."

Zed burst into a fit of hacking coughs. "Well, that's not good."

"We should go. It's too dangerous."

Zed agreed. He had definitely crossed the line. But he wanted to do one more thing: "We should find some Nether wart for Cub first."

"Are you serious? You do realize that one more hit from a wither skeleton could kill you."

"Doesn't the start of almost every potion begins with Nether wart? We could make a healing potion for my wound."

Tango thought about the options, then sighed. "You're so stubborn, Zeddie."

"I get that a lot," Zed grunted with effort as he stood up. "Which way, Tangy?"

"I'm thinking down the hall. I saw corridors branching out from each other."

They walked down the hallway, footsteps bouncing off the walls. The deep red of the fortress contrasted darkly with Zed's platinum blonde hair. Tango, however, fit right in. His red eyes seemed to glow in the darkness.

Zed studied Tango warily. His personality hadn't changed a bit since the last time he'd seen him, two years ago--it had heightened. He was more willing to banter even in morbid situations, which Zed appreciated. 

The thing was, though, that Tango had been in the Nether for two years. He'd been living and surviving off the land. What had he done to get the materials he needed? I mean, it was all for survival, but it was still morally wrong.

Tango caught Zed staring. This time, he didn't need to ask if Zed was okay. The fear in Zed's eyes was evident.

"Hey." Tango took a step closer. Zed stilled. "It's okay. I swear. I'll kill any monster who lays a hand on my delicate angel."

And with that, Zed realized his mistake. There was a difference between Tango and the monsters that lived here. Unlike the Ghast and Wither skeleton, Tango killed to protect, not attack. He defended people from the offense.

The fear evaporated, replaced with a small note of guilt. "Yeah. Thanks, Tango."

Tango raised an eyebrow at the use of his real name and not the nickname, but kept going.

They ran into another staircase, but this one had some sort of brown sand. It had something in it, too. It looked like the sand was moving, as if something alive was trapped inside. Even the sand here had a deadly counterpart?

Zed assumed this is where the Nether wart was supposed to be. But there was one thing missing: The Nether wart.

Tango looked confused, too. "There should be some here...no monster could've been able to harvest it. What would they need it for, anyway?"

Zed made a connection. "Tango, the loot in Nether chests are usually good, right?"

"Uh, yeah. At the least, there are more items than what we found earlier."

The puzzle pieces clicked together. "Someone's been here."

Tango looked down the hallways, having come to the same conclusion. "But who? Nobody's been to the Nether but us and Cub."

"You don't think...?"

Before Zed could finish his sentence, a shadow blocked the dim light of the fortress, plunging Tango and Zed in almost complete darkness. Something told Zed it wasn't Cub.

The two of them slowly turned around to see an unrecognizable figure looming over them.

(WC: 1838)