Tango too? What if I'm next?
Jevin shook his head solemnly. He couldn't stay here any longer. He didn't feel safe.
Rumour had it that a small group of hermits had set out to make a new home, out in the wilderness somewhere far away from the chaos of main Hermitcraft.
Sounds like a great idea.
He just hoped he could catch up to them. He had been told that Keralis said they were going northwest, across the ocean, and were going to set up there.
With a direction in mind, he set off, equipping his elytra and bidding his oceanic base goodbye.
It was time for a new start.
~ ⬩ ᓭℸ ̣ ∷╎ꖌᒷᓭ, ⬩ ~
Hypno hopped down from the building he was working on, and landed nearby Keralis. The hermit was already busying himself, and had almost finished figuring out the layout of the paths and little houses he planned to build. Hypno chuckled, and began to check some of the shulkers.
Nope. No. Still no...
"Hey Keralis, do you know if we have bricks?"
Keralis looked up from his work, his face smudged with dirt.
"I don't think so, but you could ask Stress to be sure."
"Alright, thanks."
He took off again, heading into the mouth of an already beautifully built castle front.
He landed a bit clumsily in front of her, and she jumped back in surprise. The Hermit quickly got himself up and brushed off, before asking Stress the same question
"Nope, sorry. There is that lake we passed over while we were comin' here, there's probably a lot of clay there..."
Hypno nodded, and Stress went back to her work, carefully decorating the little hallway.
He sighed. He had hoped someone had brought some, but the lake was better than nothing. He spread out the silvery membrane of his elytra and took off again, heading back south.
The landscape rushed by beneath him, a blur of green. After some time, he landed with a small plop next to a large lake. The water was relatively shallow, and he waded in cautiously. After scoping out all the little clay patches, he waded over to one, and began to mine it, the wet clay clinging to his fingers. He stuffed as much clay as he could into shulker after shulker, and by the time all the boxes were full, he was tired, dirty, and soaked in sweat.
He smoothed back his wet hair and packed up all the boxes, getting ready to head back to New Hermitcraft Haven. It was getting late, and mobs would begin to spawn soon. He looked up, and immediately began to panic. A figure had just rocketed across the sky, flying directly above.
Hypno cautiously wrapped one clay-coated hand around the hit of his sword, just in case.
"Hypno!" a very familiar voice called out.
His tensed shoulders fell as he relaxed, and waved to the figure, who was descending towards him.
Jevin landed with a soft gust of wind, his boots sinking into the sand upon the shore.
"What's up?"
Hypno laughed and stepped out of the water to greet his friend.
"Just collecting some materials. What brings you all the way out here?"
Darkness fell across Jevin's face, his jellylike skin losing some of its lustre.
Oh no...
"Uh... yeah... um... yeah, Tango might die..."
Seeing the confused look on Hypno's face, Jevin elaborated.
"Uh... X says... X says if he does... it'll be permanent..."
Hypno went pale.
Permanently? But we always respawn!
"And that's why I'm here, so I'm not next."
Hypno took a deep breath, and forced himself to smile again. Fear pounded through his head, but he forced it down. He was safe here. They were all safe here.
"Well, in that case, let me show you where we've set up camp!"
He waved Jevin forwards, and the two hermits took off into the lightening sky. Leaving behind the lake, they flew north, dipping in and out of the clouds.
Beads of water glowed amber against Hypno's skin, reflecting the light of the rising sun. The dry sands of the desert raced beneath them. After a bit, however, drab green patches began to appear. Soon, dry, yellowed grass covered the ground, rustling as they flew by. Leaning trees reached out their thin branches, flat canopies casting cool shadows upon the ground.
The grass got greener and greener, eventually growing tall and verdant. A few wild horses grazed in the distance, and a small family of chickens squawked angrily as they soared low. Approaching a large hill, Hypno saw the outline of a huge castle, a few little houses spotting the lush fields around it.
He looked back at Jevin, who was smiling broadly.
"This is so cool. You guys've been hard at work huh?"
Hypno nodded, and waved to Stress as they began to descend.
Once they were safely on the ground, Jevin greeted the Hermit, Who had taken off her pin sweater and was wearing it around her waist, tools tucked into it like a utility belt. White sparkles flashed in the air for a moment as Keralis swooped in on his elytra.
He hit the ground hard, but came up smiling.
"Wow, you guys have quite the build coming along here!"
"Yup! We were just finishin' out with the lil' village, I'm gonna start on some of the farms while the others build the castle. Wanna help?"
Jevin smiled, the sun glistening off of his translucent blue face.
"Sure!"
Hypno laughed, and meandered away with Keralis.
~ ⬩ ᔑリ↸ ⬩ ~
They had been here for several weeks, and the base was almost done. Keralis was nearly done with the castle surrounding the farms they had made, but right now, he was taking a break. Jevin, their newest member, had also been hard at work, and had managed to get together a small trading hall of villagers.
A bang and a startled yell from below him redirected Keralis' attention, and he chucked softly. A creeper had snuck up on Jevin, and his gelatinous blue body was now covered in char from the explosion. The Hermit sighed and opened his mouth, enveloping a golden carrot whole.
Keralis looked down at the finished bottom section of the castle. The stony walls enclosed a huge item sorter, and watery pathways wound all over the room with items flying through them at high speeds. Above him, scaffolds of dirt hung in the air, marking out where the rest of the build would go.
He sighed, brushing small pebbles and dust off his clothes. A week or so ago, they had all seen an announcement in the chat that Tango had briefly woken up, but since then, there had been no news of what was going on with the rest of the server.
He was glad that Tango was not dead, at least. He had been a bit worried, as cut off as they were from the rest of the server. The only one of them that had been back was Stress, who had flown back to the shopping district for a few minutes to buy some rockets. Deep down, he missed the others. Deep down, he knew that he would eventually go back. Deep down, he knew that no matter how scared he was, no matter what was happening at spawn, he would drop everything if someone needed his help.
He sighed, and looked about. It had rained that night, and the trees in the distance were covered in small jewels of water, hanging from their branches and leaves like ornaments. The late morning sun cast a warm glow on his surroundings, and he closed his eyes, soaking in the warmth.
His communicator buzzed softly, but he ignored it. It could wait.
This was a nice place to be.
Stress had flown up to the ledge he was on, and had put a hand on his shoulder.
Keralis kept his eyes closed.
"This is such a nice morning! Its warm, It's-"
"Keralis."
Hearing the fearful notes in her voice, Keralis opened his eyes curiously.
"Hmm?"
"Look."
Stress showed him her own communicator.
"What...What the heck? What is that?"
"I think... I think we need to go back."
Keralis shivered. There was real danger now, and running away would do no good.
He stood up, and met Stress' stern gaze with one of his own.
The time for hiding was over. It was time to fight.
He glanced at his communicator one more time as they flew off to tell the others, and winced.
The message on the screen shone bright, foreboding and sinister.
iskall85 hit the ground too hard whilst trying to escape ̇/ᒷꖎᑑ⚍ᔑ
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