Hunted | A HermitCraft AU

That escalated quickly

tw for a description of gore, a dead body and someone throwing up

—-

Despite everything else going on, Mumbo couldn't help but find himself having fun.

Ren (or Renbob, as Ren liked to be called nowadays) was a cool guy to hang out with, something Mumbo had forgotten in all the drama and chaos that had come about since Xisuma had somehow met, and brought Grian to HermitCraft.

Building in the Hippie commune was surprisingly fun and easy to do, and Mumbo was enjoying himself immensly. His limited building skills seemed to be working in his favour for the most part, and Mumbo felt proud of the camper-van he'd designed and was staying in temporarily. It was warm and cozy and Mumbo liked that he didn't really need to worry about as much as usual.

He could calm himself down, and plan out how he would get Iskall and Doc and False back so they could fight Rowan.

The change of clothes probably helped too. Mumbo really liked the comfortable, warm clothes that Renbob had given to him, and he couldn't help but feel relaxed when he snuggled into the turtleneck every five seconds.

Of course, Mumbo was aware that he had no right to feel happy or relaxed. Not while Iskall was in danger. Not while Doc was avoiding him. Not while False was being blackmailed.

Not while Grian was being possessed.

Not when it was up to Mumbo (and Renbob) to try and save their friends.

—-

Putting out the campfire, Mumbo glanced at Renbob's camper-van anxiously. The other Hippie appeared to be asleep, although Mumbo couldn't be sure.

He decided to leave it. Whatever was happening with Renbob wasn't as important right now.

He clutched onto the Doc mask he'd bought from the villagers under the Statue of Hermity and slunk out of the Hippie Commune.

He was going to try and break in tonight.

Whether he was prepared or not was a whole other matter.

Making it to the fence, Mumbo took advantage of his bean pole frame and slipped through the wide gaps in the fence, his bare feet sinking into the soft ground on the other side. The moon hung overhead, and Mumbo looked up wistfully.

That wasn't important right now though.

Mumbo crept through the trees, glancing around Area 77. He needed to find where Iskall was being kept, so he
could save his enby friend.

Nothing was that simple though.

Continuing to creep through the forest, Mumbo felt the ground go slightly damp under his feet, and he looked down. There was some dark stain on the floor, sticky to touch and a brownish red in colour. The smell of iron filled the air, and Mumbo had to suppress the urge to throw up.

Then he saw it.

More specifically, he saw Cub, and the cause of the sticky red on the floor.

Mumbo let out a shrill shriek of surprise, his hands shooting up to cover his mouth. In desperation to keep hidden from Doc and Scar or in horror, Mumbo wasn't sure.

Cub was dead, a pained, panicked look in Cub's wide, glazed over eyes. A trail of dried blood ran from the corner of Cub's mouth down to his chin. Cub's coat was torn and stained with the same liquid now covering Mumbo's hands.

Mumbo actually threw up when he saw how Cub's stomach had been torn out.

Tears rolled down Mumbo's cheeks and he let out a choked sob, wiping his eyes and mouth with his sleeve. He stumbled backwards into a tree, clutching onto the bark for any support he could possibly receive from it.

Cub was dead.

Permanently.

Just like Jevin was.

And it was all Mumbo's fault.

—-

Mumbo hadn't know. how long he'd been sitting there for until the sun started to rise, and another scream was heard.

Scar's scream.

The Convex had stumbled across Mumbo and Cub, Mumbo sitting there numbly in a pool of blood. He wasn't crying anymore, the tears on his cheeks now dry.

Mumbo looked up at Scar, vaguely registering that Scar was supposed to be part of the enemy, so why was Scar surprised?

Then it dawned on Mumbo that maybe Cub's death wasn't the work of Scar and Doc.

Maybe this was Rowan and Heidi and Kady's fault.

The mental image of Xisuma and Grian and Stress sadistically tearing Cub's stomach out made Mumbo want to puke again.

The next thing Mumbo knew, Scar was clutching onto him, crying into Mumbo's shoulder despite Cub's blood staining Mumbo's turtleneck.

Mumbo let Scar grieve. What else could he do?

—-

"We, we need to tell Xisuma."

That was not what Mumbo wanted to hear upon Scar collecting himself enough to formulate a sentence.

"We need to give Cub the send off he deserves, and we can't do that without Xisuma's help." Scar explained, and Mumbo felt a pang in his chest. Scar was right, but they couldn't go to Xisuma for help.

Not while Rowan was in control.

"Let's go find Doc first. Then we'll go from there. Does that sound good?" Mumbo's voice was slightly raspy as he spoke, although Scar agreed with a nod.

Standing up, Mumbo helped Scar up properly, supporting the shorter man. Mumbo could see that Scar was trembling, and Mumbo knew exactly how Scar felt.

"Let's go find him then." Mumbo said. Scar nodded again, and Mumbo smiled faintly.

They could do this.

Couldn't they?

—-

a/n: me, spending the better half of two days trying to decide if Cub should be found alive or dead?

more likely than you'd think