#hbg kayfour

[hbghq]

DAYS 11-14!!! WOOOO ANOTHER MASS UPLOAD HBDFGH

[vibesoda]

ive been meaning to ask.. in dolorem, is the old king that dies at the beginning meant to be someone specific or was he meant to be kinda like, a vague silhouette

he’s d!nerdi’s grandfather! he’s written to be vague both because i’m not interested in making up a fake grandfather for nerdi’s character, and because it fits the story better to know very little about him. so yeah, he’s no-one we know.

here’s what we know about him:

he took Couri and Kayfour in, claiming to have no family.

he kicked Nerdi, Geosquare, and Fireworkss out of HBG because of their research concerning the End. Tapl was involved as well, but somehow managed to avoid being captured.

Couriway’s gold watch originally belonged to him.

he died from an unknown but fast-acting and deadly illness.

[yyuuraii]

hello k4 community

[shrimpsicality]

They are peepotalking :D

Bonus: recoloured using 10 from lumi's random colour palette

[thatonespammy]

potions

[rosesmusicandaloeveraplants]

christmas... cactus?

hbg christmas :D

posted on ao3, or read below

Feel free to check out the for eternity, time and time again masterpost!

Kayfour was curled up on their couch, spools of colored wool in their lap, their hands quickly crocheting a small plush. To their left was Draco, quickly finishing up a hat they knitted, sewing a small pom-pom they made on top. On the table over was Raddles, finishing her last painting, in bold strokes of purple, to be given as a gift. Fruit and Illumina shared the other couch, comparing their embroidery projects while taking care to not lose any needles. The gift making session was going fairly well, Kayfour mused, and they were glad that they semi-organized this.

Sure the snow was nice, providing a different highlight on the landscape, creating scenes that differ from the summer months. But that doesn't help with the fact that it was fucking freezing and how they'd rather just settle in their living room, where they had blankets and a fireplace, and could just invite others over to work on projects together. Either way, they're fairly cozy now, and were pretty happy with everyone sharing their current progress with each other, seeing art projects come to life.

---

Reign swam around a coral reef, peering closely at the school of fish swimming around.

He finally spotted the fish he was looking for: a pink and blue tropical fish, affectionately dubbed "the Fein Fish" by HBG. It bobbed around a fan coral, looking away from Reign.

Reign grabbed a bucket, and slowly, carefully swam towards the fish, and bucketed it, peering at the fish in the bucket (it was barely fazed by the change of scenery), before putting it in his pocket dimension. That was the last fish he needed for gifts, he mentally checked off, as he swam back to the coast, to his axolotl farm. Zy was waiting for him already, presumably already finding all the sweet berries the other insisted he needed to get. (Zylenox indeed, had a shulker filled with sweet berries, and Reign did not question how the other found them so quickly.)

Reign waved to Zy, before heading into the axolotl farm to grab one last thing before heading back to the HBG village: a blue axolotl, after weeks of waiting and thousands of axolotls hatched. He scooped up the axolotl in another bucket, took out a shulker box, filled with the buckets of fish and axolotls he was going to give, and placed the last two buckets inside.

He walked out of the farm, and traveled through the portal nearby with Zy, making their way back to HBG after hopping into a boat on the Nether Highway.

---

"Y'all are under mistletoe! Forehead or fight!" Fyroah called out, cupping his mouth to project his voice. Reign was laughing along with him.

Fein and Couri looked up. The mistletoe's bright colors mocked him. They had a choice: either a platonic forehead kiss, or they fight. Simple.

"So, mistletoe or mistlefoe Coru?" Fein asked cheekily.

Couri opened his wings. Fein gulped. Then Fein turned around and started running, but Couri tackled him (the damn wings giving the other a boost), and then a moment later Fein was stuck in a chokehold.

Well this was embarrassing.

Fein struggles a little bit, but soon gives up. There was no escaping the wrath of a short Couriway who currently has him in a chokehold.

"I forfeit," Fein wheezed, "I forfeit, let me go."

Couriway still hasn't Fein out of the chokehold. He can see the others gently laughing at him for getting into such a predicament.

Couri reached over and placed a platonic forehead kiss, before letting Fein out of the chokehold.

Fein grinned widely, and tackled Couri into a hug.

---

"What the fuck are we supposed to try to do?" Fyro asked.

Mustard looked back. "To be honest I barely have a clue."

"Well they told us to help decorate, except with the lights." Emerald stated. "Though that doesn't clear up much either."

Mustard paused and looked at the group. He had a brilliant idea.

"What if," Mustard paused for dramatic effect, "we made a snowdragon, but like a huge one."

"But what if it melts?" Silverr asked.

"... Any better ideas?"

Emerald took out a shulker box. It was filled with sand.

"Glass dragon. Can't Fyro smelt the sand anyways?"

"Absolutely." Fyro grinned, his flames glowing brightly with excitement.

"And we can just steal the shulker filled with dyes for a little bit to color the glass." Silverr added, nodding. "I'm gonna go do that now, if I remember correctly TapL has the shulker box today."

Silverr took off towards the direction of the communal forge and enchantment workstations, where TapL had said he would be, as the rest grabbed handfuls of sand, preparing to make the dragon.

They had roughly laid out lumps of sand for the dragon's legs, when Silverr returned. He took out a shulker from his pocket dimension and laid it out in front of him, rummaging through the sacks of powdered dyes, before grabbing the sacks holding black, gray, purple, red, and white dye.

Emerald came over and helped Silverr with the dye, sprinkling a pinch of the dye into the sand they had out, and mixing it with a shovel. Fyro came over and smelted the sand, molding the glass with his hands. Mustard quickly found and splashed a Fire Resistance potion on Emerald, Silverr, and himself, so they can also help out with molding the glass.

After a while, the dragon took form, standing ten blocks tall, wearing a cheery Christmas hat (also made of glass), guarding over the main plaza of the village.

The group stood back and admired their work, and then began to make their way to return the dye shulker box to TapL.

---

Punz was gently hammering out a ringlet of gold they were working on when they heard TapL whoop out in cheer, the last hum of magic from the enchantment table fading, as TapL slams the thin leather bound book he was working on shut. Punz looked up once they were satisfied with the shape, and looked at TapL.

"Last book that we need for our gifts, and once you're done with the metal art we can put the enchantments in!" He cheered, ink of different colors smeared on his left hand, golden light from channeling his magic fading. "And now, I just need to wait for Silverr to get back with the shulker of dyes."

"What'd you need the dyes for? You're done with creating the enchants so you don't need anymore colored ink right?" Punz asked, as they watched TapL walk out from the work area and unbound his wings. TapL stretched his arms and wings, detached from his back, golden with a light iridescent purple sheen, and probably way too large to fit comfortably nor to not knock anything over without being bound magically to TapL's back in the small workspace they were in.

"I'm experimenting with something new," TapL simply stated. "You know those new glowing squid thingies that someone found a while ago?"

"Yeah?"

"Their ink sacs are pretty interesting, if I say so myself."

Punz glanced briefly at the blast furnace's progress refining the gold ore they were waiting on. "What do you mean?"

"The ink glows in the dark," TapL explained. "I want to try to make some paints, ink, and maybe even thread or wool at some point, but for now I'll try making dye and ink. I think some of the artists would appreciate it as a gift."

"TapL that actually is so cool," Punz started. "I'm in awe."

"Thank you."

Silverr, Fyro, Emerald, and Mustard came in with the shulker that TapL was waiting for, handed off the shulker box, and quickly left to engage in more shenanigans.

Punz took out the last bit of refined gold from the blast furnace, and made the last of the gold ringlets they needed, as TapL took out a glass vial, a cyan ink sac (Punz assumed it was from one of the aforementioned squids), and one of the sacks of powdered dye.

Punz slowly worked the gold ringlets into a cohesive ring, as TapL dropped some of the ink into the glass vial, adding a pinch of powdered dye. TapL swirled the vial slowly, as Punz set the ring off to cool, the last bit of metal work for their big gift.

TapL set down the vial he was working on, and walked over to the anvil, surrounded by a stack of thin leather bound parchment books, and a pile of carefully made gold items.

Together, the two channeled their magic, fusing each book's blessings of protection, luck, and hopes of a better new year into each piece.

---

Tek sat outside, slowly fiddled with the settings on his helmet. He managed to set up a static image of a snowy forest to display on the front of the screen, but was struggling to get a slideshow of "festive photos" to cycle through properly. He sets the helmet down, as Switch, Reignex, and Dylan come up to him. This might not be good.

Reignex was the first to speak, with a smile that told Tek that he was up to no good.

"How's your helmet?"

"It is not going well, to be honest."

"You know what'd make it better?" Dylan replied, as Switch took out a disk.

Tek fucking hated that disk. It was a song that got looped at every jukebox, at all realms, it annoyed the shit out of everyone, but was still played for the sake of pissing people off.

"Fuck off man. I'm not playing that disk."

"But what if," Reign asked, "what if I said, that all I want for Christmas is you?"

"That's not going to work again, and don't fucking quote the lyrics at me."

"Well it sure did work yesterday, and the day before that," Dylan added, "and it sure is working for me."

"Come on man," Switch pleaded, "I don't want a lot for Christmas, but there is just one thing I need, which is for you to play this disc."

Tek looked like he wanted to scream.

Conveniently Feinberg came along a moment later, and asked Tek to help with the lights. After handing off his helmet to people that are (hopefully) more technologically competent than he is, Tek gladly followed Fein, Dylan in tow. Hopefully Reign and Switch manages to fix the problem with that helmet, and doesn't play tha-

He spoke too soon. Well there's nothing Tek can do about the two blasting that disc on loop at top volume now.

---

Fulham wouldn't say he was an excellent chef. But, Fulham would say he was glad that he was competent enough to avoid Eleventy's wrath. As he and Davie worked on a dish together, he resisted the urge to look back as he heard Eleventy yell, "Why is there slime here in the food?"

Pete probably wasn't lucky enough to avoid Eleventy's wrath this time.

A few minutes later, Fulham thought he smelled smoke. He checked and saw the others looking around in alarm. That wasn't a good sign.

Ninb looked up from the steak he was preparing. "What's on fire?"

"Can't be our stuff considering it's not on the stove yet." Davie replied.

Eleventy sighs deeply.

Pete put a hand over his heart in disbelief, "I, for once, was nowhere close to any source of fire."

"Everyone let's move out of the kitchen, and find some buckets of water," Eleventy stated tiredly, putting down the whisk he had in his hand before leaving the kitchen.

---

"To the left. No, a bit more."

"Dylan, why can't you just grab your elytra and help?" Draconix wailed.

"Well you guys need someone on the ground to see if it works don't you? Plus, Fein and Tek are already helping."

"Dylan. Dylan, you're not doing anything." Fein called down from the rooftop he was perched at, elytra tucked on his back. Draconix hovered in place a few blocks away from where Fein was, arms crossed in front of their chest.

"I'm helping!"

TapL and Couri flew down to where Dylan was, with their near twin-like pair of golden wings, having finished another roof. Tek, Zy, and Silverr soon glided down with their elytras and Illumina with his pairs of dragon wings, having finished more roofs as well. Fein and Draco finally finished the roof they were working on, and joined the group on the ground.

"Hopefully we've wired this correctly and nothing goes wrong," Tek stated, ready to complete the wiring for the stringed lights to glow.

A moment of silence (and people preparing either Fire Resistance potions or their buckets of water), and then cheering, as nothing blew up once the circuit was complete.

They cheered each other on for a job well done, and left on their way, promising not to be late for the last part of decorating the Christmas tree.

---

"What the fuck did you just do?" Fein turned back to glare at Reign.

"What do you mean, 'What the fuck did I just do?', you were the one to set it on fire bitch! You literally, came back, and managed to fuck up Tek's shit."

"Why don't you have a water bucket on you?"

"I used them all for gifts and shit, why don't you have a water bucket on you?"

Fein continued to glare at Reign (because let's be honest, he didn't have a good answer to that), before looking back at the flaming mess on the ground. "Well, what the fuck are we supposed to do now?"

"I'm gonna get some help putting the fire out, good luck guys." Switch stated, before leaving.

Tek walked back, and saw the scene in front of him.

"I literally, I literally went to help with the lights. Fein went to help with the lights with me. How the fuck did he set this on fire already?" Tek groaned. "Now I have to go grab my backup helmet."

They hear Eleventy, exhaustedly ask, "What are you doing?"

"Hey Elevent-"

"This is why I don't let you help with cooking at all, Feinberg."

Reignex was trying (and failing) to not laugh out loud.

Eleventy facepalmed, "I had to evacuate the kitchen for this. Okay everyone, let's go back."

"Hey aren't you going to help put out the fire?" Tek asked.

"Oh, right." Eleventy walked over, taking out a bucket of water and dumping it on the fire. The helmet looks charred and absolutely unusable. Fulham came over with a second bucket of water and dumped it on top of the helmet for good measure.

"Well hopefully this is the only case of arson today," Switch stated wistfully, coming back with a bucket of water and a few vials of Fire Resistance potions he had brewed earlier, and whisking the bucket into his pocket dimension.

---

Well the tree was mostly decorated, thanks to Smallant, Hary, Marcus, and Geo, and all that is left is the special ornaments, one handcrafted by each HBG member to symbolize themselves.

Well, they were going to put up such ornaments, that was until Raddles (while chasing several of the cats that followed Illumina to the plaza today) knocked down the tree, Illumina nearly being a victim of the tree falling on him.

Something went wrong with the stringed lights, because less than a moment after Illumina gets out from under the fallen tree, it catches on fire.

"Don't look at me," Fyro started, "I was nowhere close to the tree this time."

"... That actually might be my fault this time." Marcus started. "Oops."

Fulham and Switch grabbed their buckets of water and put out the fire. Just like Tek's helmet from earlier, it was burnt to a crisp.

"Well thankfully no one's put any of the ornaments or gifts near the tree," Smallant began. "But what do we do now?"

"Why are we all looking at me?" Geo asked, a bad feeling forming about what the others could be asking.

---

After much convincing (and making the people with a history of accidentally causing arson to be extremely careful), Geo had lended one of his larger cacti to stand in for the Christmas tree. Christmas cactus? Whatever, one of those.

Switch and Draco doused the cactus in enough Fire Resistance potions to last for a month, before Geo was satisfied and stepped away from the cacti (by a little).

Without incident, the cactus was decorated yet again, and HBG all stood around the cactus.

"I feel like, I feel like something's missing ya know," Nerdi started, "Something's missing from this. I don't know what's missing, but something's missing."

Hary grabbed a pair of sunglasses from his pocket, and placed it on the cactus.

Catching his eye, Fruit took out a sign, and Illumina scribbled "11ty" onto the sign. Fruit placed it a block below the sunglasses.

"It looks exactly like Eleventy!" Fruit cheered.

"Ha, ha, very funny guys."

After laughing at how they could just decorate Eleventy for next year (plus several indignant complaints from the cactus man himself), Couri herded everyone to do a group photo, in case "something happens to the cactus".

So everyone crammed themselves to be included in the frame, Illumina riding on Fruit's shoulders, TapL, Couri, and Draco using their wings to hover in the back as several others grabbed their elytras to do the same. Tek peeked up from the bottom of the frame with an older helmet of his, having to fine tune the expression shown on the screen with knobs on the side. Reign tried to vault himself up Fein's back, as Pete supported himself on Kayfour's shoulders.

Everyone grinned largely as the photo was being taken, cheered and dispersed to a large table they'd set up once the photo was done.

The gift exchange began, as fish, paintings, jewelry, paints, hand made cards, and much more were exchanged, each other's love shown in the artfully crafted and selected gifts. Hugs were exchanged, and joy was in the air, as dinner was taken out.

Before everyone dug in, Illumina grabbed everyone's attention.

"B-before we start digging in, I just wanna say," Illumina paused. "Uhhh, I am so grateful for everyone here, and uh. Frick."

Couri and Nerdi just stood up, told Illumina they got this.

"A toast, for everyone here,"

"For friends of new and old,"

"For whatever the new year brings,"

"For the past we've shared,"

"Together,"

"We can face it all,"

"HBG on top!" The two concluded in unison, and everyone yelled it out as well, knowing that with this family, they've got each other's back, with this family, they've found home.

[theleafsheep]

What it Means to be Human

Kayfour had spent most of their time as a god living up high in the clouds. They were one of the many gods of the land and had all the powers that typically came with it. They even had a golden glow to themselves that all the gods had though theirs had started to fade. After the many years spent in solitude that was expected of them, they started to question their worth as a god. Did they deserve to have all the knowledge in the world? Did they deserve being all powerful? Not to mention being a god required that they were alone and had no worldly attachments, but they couldn’t help but long to have contact with the people below.

He would watch as the people below him that called themselves ‘HBG’ hung out and enjoyed the company of everyone. They also went on speedrunning adventures often and spent any other time in Kayfour’s world. Oh, how he wished he had what HBG had. Instead, he continued to spend months alone and looking over the world. Watching as his godly glow faded with every passing moment.

Then one day the glow stopped and Kayfour found themselves plummeting from the sky, they had realizing immediately that they had lost their godhood. Whilst they were falling, they grabbed onto a tree branch so they wouldn’t sustain an injury from the impact. The Kayfour let go of the branch and landed on the ground. The ground was covered in flowers, flowers they had previously only been able to see up above like their favorite sunflowers. There they laid for days without moving or getting up, forgetting their new human needs. This is when the sunflowers grew throughout Kayfour’s hair and one where they had no eye. The missing eye had been completely corrupted, so they had to get rid of it while their remaining eye was only partially corrupted. Being on the ground with the humans was all that they had dreamt of, so they had to soak it in.

After those days had past, he decided to wander into the nearby village that was occupied by players instead of villagers. There were many players wandering around from hybrids to humans to a literal cactus. Kayfour knew that he looked weird to the players as he looked around the village in amazement.

Someone tapped them on the should causing Kayfour to jerk back, “Hey sorry about that but what exactly are you doing here? Not that you don’t seem friendly but we’re kind of not looking for new members,” the man was blonde and clad in purple robes.

They thought about calling themselves a god but then remembered that they were no longer one, “I’m Kayfour. Sorry I was just passing through,” then their stomach growled.

The man responded to this by offering him mushroom stew made by Couriway and introducing himself as Nerdi.

The members who were previously wandering around the village started to gather around a pot of what Kayfour assumed was the soup in the middle of the village. The man stirring the pot had large golden wings and wore a crown, Couriway they assumed.

“There are more of us by the way just most of them are out speedrunning in other worlds, you might be able to meet them one day.” Kayfour responded by nodding contently towards the man, “Hey everyone! This is Kayfour and they’ll be joining us for dinner,” Nerdi shouted to the other members.

Couriway served the soup to all the member before they all sat on the logs surrounding the pot of soup and continued talking whether it be about their resent speedrunning ventures or friends arguing. Kayfour decided to not talk and instead take it all in.

The sun was slowly setting leaving the land in an ever-familiar golden glow. Familiar, that was nice. They continued listening to the babble of the members before everyone decided to head in for some sleep or alone time.

“You can stay here for the night if you like? I don’t think Nerdi expected it to go this late. You see that house over there? It should be empty,” the ender dragon hybrid told him.

They nodded before getting up and heading towards the house. It was small with barely any room for anything other than a bed, but it was comfortable. They gladly took the opportunity to sleep in a bed as the flowers that had taken residence in their body as draining their energy and they had been sleeping on the ground for multiple days.

The flowers never did go away, instead they kept growing and taking away Kayfour’s energy no matter what he did to try and prevent it. The only time he felt fine was when he were hanging with HBG, whether it be just chatting or going on speedruns with each other. Yeah, they never left the village and no one bothered to comment on it, just accepting them as a member. Sometimes they wished someone asked questions because then he could get everything off his chest but instead it stayed inside Kayfour’s head. All his self-doubts just building up in their head as they continued to feel weaker and weaker.

Kayfour offered to make dinner for the group that was currently hanging around the village.  It had started out as them making the soup alone, adding mushrooms and dandelions while routinely stirring it. Then Fyroah came and decided to cause the fire the soup was heating on to rise to extreme heats and burn too large and bright. So, there they were with a burnt soup and the rest of the members laughing at them.

“Hey, it’s cool, we can just eat some bread or some shit,” Dylan tried to comfort them.

“Not like we haven’t done that before. Especially when Couri isn’t here,” Fulham responded.

In those moments Kayfour didn’t feel the weakness eating away at them. As cliché as it sounded, HBG made them feel so much better and for once their thoughts weren’t eating at them. A smile ran across Kayfour’s face as Silverr and Mustard playfully fought with each other. They could get used to this.

It didn’t last long at all. In the following days Kayfour got worse, enough that the members of HBG started to take notice. They would let Kayfour sleep in and stopped occasionally asking him to make dinner. In turn that made Kayfour feel isolated and their thoughts of being unworthy to be a god returned. They knew the members were just trying to help because they thought it was just a cold, but Kayfour knew it was more.

Kayfour had been lying in bed for the most part for the past few days. They had no motivation and no energy to do so anymore.

Then came a knock, “Hey, I know you haven’t been feeling well lately but we wanted to know if you’d like to at least watch us play soccer,” it was Mustard’s voice.

Kayfour got up from their bed and opened the door, “I’d like that,” he smiled, and Mustard returned it.

They walked out to the fields that the soccer games were going to take place and sat down under the ginormous tree with the rest of the members who weren’t participating. Kayfour was letting the land consume them as they watched the match. Kayfour knew they were dying, and they couldn’t stop it. HBG soon noticed something was off and stopped the game. All the members were surrounding them and asking questions that Kayfour couldn’t make out.

“Go away, its not like you can stop it anyways,” Kayfour complained with pain evident in his voice. Their vision started gaining black spots that wouldn’t go away.

“Kayfour you’ll be okay, alright?” someone said, their voice laced with worry.

Kayfour could no longer ignore the sounds around them as the members erupted in tears. They could make out a blurred figure that was Switch handing them a potion for them to take. As they took the potion all the members hugged them tightly hoping that the potion would save their friend. Kayfour’s body then started glowing like it had when they were a god.

Some may say that the potion is what saved Kayfour that day, but he knew that it was his friends. They weren’t only saved from death, but they were also given their godhood back. Though this time they could stay with their friends and still remain a god but Kayfour would have given that up in a heartbeat so that they could be with their friends.

[silverphoenix212]

Day 15- Warden

There are footsteps in his caves. It takes a moment for Silverr to notice, he’s become more used to the coming and going of other dragons. These aren’t the footsteps of one of his flight members though. These are heavy, dragging steps that echo through tunnels and caverns. Silverr feels the vibrations in his paw pads, faint tremors that tell him the sound comes from deep below him, from the furthest reaches of his caves.

He hasn’t had an unwanted visitor in his caves since he’s met hbg. The presence of a large flight like theirs is enough to dissuade other dragons from finding their way to the caves, and the monsters that prowl the forests above are mostly taken care of by Kayfour, his nearest neighbor. He has no idea what this intruder could be, and he debates calling for backup. It sounds large and threatening, and he’d like the flight at his back if it’s going to be a fight. On the other hand, he isn’t sure he can afford to leave. The deep tunnels are a treacherous labyrinth, and though he knows them by heart, the further he lets this thing get, the more chance there is of it escaping before he can track it down.

The decision is easy. He’s survived everything the caves had to offer on his own, and he’s confident he can take care of this before the others even have to know about it.

He focuses on the vibrations beneath his claws, the sound of the rushing underground river that guides him, the scent of earthen moss and stone that fades as he leaves the surface, and he begins to track. This is his domain, and nothing can hide from him here. He holds his right wing against the wall as he runs, steps as sure as any sighted dragon’s above ground. He goes as fast as he dares, trying not to draw the attention of the creature he’s hunting. He delves deeper and deeper, past jagged collapsed rock and deep fissures leading to a certain death far below. Silverr avoids them all with practiced ease.

He only slows as his paws touch unfamiliar rock, previously smooth ground now littered with small pebbles and cracked boulders. A cave in. That must’ve been partially what he heard. He sniffs the air warily, finding an unfamiliar scent of something living. It’s stale though. The creature has moved on. He navigates the rubble carefully, finding a new opening in the wall. The scent comes from here, and Silverr figures the collapse must’ve opened a new section of the caves. The air is stagnant, and he doubts this part of the tunnels has ever been connected to the surface before. He has no idea how much further it goes, or what it might contain. Obviously, something has already gotten out, and who knows what else could be in there. He has to focus on the current problem though, which according to the scent and the faint sound of footsteps is heading upwards, towards the surface. He can’t let it reach it’s goal.

Enough delaying the inevitable. He pokes his head above the stone, expecting the creature to charge him. It doesn’t. The cavern remains silent, the monster’s path unchanged. He dares to move forward a bit, following the sounds of breathing, with no change. It lets out a strange clicking noise, pausing for a moment before swerving to avoid a stalactite Silverr knows is ahead. Suddenly it clicks in Silverr’s mind. The creature is blind. Just like him. This is his chance to ambush it.

It returns in the form of talons ripping through his scales, tearing a gash into his side, and he screams, kicking out desperately in some form of retaliation.

All sense of strategy vanishes as Silverr fights for his very life. He manages to tear into the monster’s throat, but before he can do much damage he’s thrown away, crashing into a rock pillar and searing pain explodes in his left wing. Fuck, it’s probably broken. He launches himself back at the enemy regardless, but time and time again he’s met with an equal opponent.

He’s facing a losing battle at this point, and he desperately wishes he’d went to find the rest of hbg. He can’t keep fighting, and he stills, barely standing in front of the creature that seems all but unharmed. His body is littered with slashes and bruises, left wing hanging limply at his side as he stares unseeing into the face of death.

“I’m sorry” he thinks, “I failed.” He begs the universe to let Kayfour be away, visiting someone else, far from wherever this monster will emerge to terrorize the forest. “Don’t let them come looking for me”, he pleads silently to anything that may be listening, feeling the last bit of strength fade from his limbs, collapsing into a pool of his own blood. He vaguely hears the creature roar, slashing blindly above him, whipping around in confusion. It can’t find him, and the last bits of Silverr’s consciousness realize that it relies on sound. It can’t see him laying here, and despite the pain and knowledge that he’s failed, Silverr is relieved. He hears footsteps grow fainter, the creature moving on, frustration put aside in favor of reaching the surface.

With the last of his strength, Silverr puts his horns to the ground and lets his senses expand, feeling every inch of the caves he knows so well. He can still sense the monster, on a steady path to the world above, and he sends his reach out further, to the very entrance to the caves. He can almost imagine the forest outside, the rest of his flight unaware of the danger, and he knows he cannot allow the creature to reach them. So he reaches within himself and sends out a shockwave, a faint tremor that grows larger and larger as it reaches it’s destination and sends rocks tumbling and collapsing inward. He can feel the shaking even from this far away, and as the last of his awareness fades away, he takes pride knowing that the creature will never escape. This is his domain, and he will protect it with everything he has.

Far away, underneath sunlight and scattered leaves, Kayfour stands before what was once the entrance to his friend’s home, now reduced to rubble and rock. A chill runs down their spine, and something tells them something is deeply, horribly wrong in the caves below.

[vibesoda]

GFIAHBJKVJN??

OKAY OKAY yeah let me give context for this, because there is a little bit of Lore behind this line.

so the full paragraph goes

Couri turns back to Kayfour, whose expression scrunched into a downtrodden frown. Couri knew that they shared the same thought — Why didn’t the king choose Illumina or Fruitberries?

Illumina is a resident held in high esteem by the rest of HBG. He’s lived there the longest; he knows the most about the damn place. In Couri’s opinion, he’s more integral to HBG than anyone else. He’s pivotal in such a way that his disappearance would shake the kingdom at its foundation in a way that no others could.

He means, sure, Illumina’s clumsy, awkward, and would probably die if he had to speak in front of a crowd, but he’s, well, anyone’s better than Couri stepping up to the throne.

and so the idea there was that the last paragraph was added upon proofreading in haste because I realized that those lines could come off as me glorifying Illumina into some badass warrior who could do anything and that was absolutely not what I wanted.

so i made sure to amend it by mentioning that despite being pretty dang skillful, he’s a huge dork.

anon from the 'drm/illu writers probably dont care for him as a person' ask back again; YES i agree!!! (and the idea of illu being some Cool Slick Dude.. i have to laugh) i think what makes it especially iffy wrt illu is that he doesnt have a separate kind of 'character' like drm does, all of his content is pretty much just... him as a person. which makes it all the worse i think

illumina in dsmp fics is just illumina being the coolest and most badass person alive which is So Wrong how do i tell you that illumina is so awkwardly endearing

the line that sold me in alyx vibesoda's dolorem is this:

[vibesoda]

what are some of your favorite random headcanons about d!couriway?

a person after my own heart, i see.

he knows how to bake, and he’s quite good at it.

he uses goldfinches as messenger birds.

he hates the cold. he has a special cape made of thicker material and a fur collar for winter.

he doesn’t have to remind the guards to switch stations, they know when they’re supposed to switch, but that’s the excuse couri uses to check up on them and socialize.

couri didn’t accept the proposition to become king until he learned kayfour would become king if he turned it down. he took the responsibility himself to protect kayfour. out of his many regrets, that decision isn’t one of them and never will be.

when he was younger, he once saved a man trapped in a burning tower because, having wings, couri was the only way a rescuer could reach the man in danger in time. as thanks, the man he rescued agreed to keep his secret safe.

as implied in chapter thirteen, before he showed them to fruit, kayfour was the only person in hbg he told about about his wings.

he’s a skilled swordsman, and he taught feinberg how to fight.

he likes to sit in the courtyard and feed the birds.

he braids k4’s hair. he wasn’t that good at it to begin with but he’s gotten better.

he’s a two. i don’t accept criticism on this.

also, check out his spotify playlist.

(it’s still a work in progress)

[rosesmusicandaloeveraplants]

a sage mask and the lush tree tops

where couriway learns to fly, and asks of forgiveness from fruit

"stay humble, don't fly too high"

icarus prompt for mcsrtober! (oct 28)

posted on ao3 or read below :D

feel free to check out the series masterpost!

Couriway stood at the edge of the cliff. He peered over it for a second before standing back onto more solid ground. The elytra, patterned in gold swirls, felt weird on his back. Not uncomfortable, just weird, but definitely something he could get used to.

He watched as TapL helped others with their elytras, and handed them a few fireworks each. Couriway saw Fruit out of the corner of his eyes, who was just staring vacantly towards the sea, his expression neutral. His elytra was tucked neatly behind him, the neon green matching most of Fruit's outfit with the exception of the indigo scarf on his wrist and the jacket Fruit wore. Illumina's jacket.

Couri felt his heart ache. He felt guilty, guilty knowing that it was his words that lead to the death of Illumina, it was his words that inadvertently hurt Fruit, it was his words that broke the kingdom into pieces. As much as he tried, he couldn't show weakness. He couldn't let his people know how torn and terrible he felt over this. The kingdom's reputation depends on his image, and he couldn't let himself ruin what he had built with his family, with Illumina.

TapL's words snapped him out of his thoughts. "Are we all ready? All got our fireworks?"

TapL stood confidently in front of the group, his wings flexing a little bit behind his back as he gestured, feathers gently illuminating the ground. "I'll take the silence as a yes, come on, let's go!"

TapL ran off the cliff with a confident swagger, his wings opening as he fell. He twirled in the air as he laughed, as his wings hoisted him into the air, an invitation for the rest of hbg to take flight.

Fyroah and Tekniik were the first to join him in the air, running towards the cliff's edge, their elytras of fire and rainbow luminance opening midair, trails of firework sparks behind them as the fireworks boosted them into the air.

Couri plummeted through the air, and then his elytra opened, lifting him up with the draft. The tug of the elytra was uncomfortable for a moment, but Couri ignored that. He was flying through the air, soon joined by the rest of hbg.

He saw TapL's brilliant gold wings, feathers glowing as he glided in the air. Around him, he saw the elytras of his friends, his family, joined in flight. Next to him, he saw Fein's elytra of neon and pastel pinks and blues, swirling and melding into each other, Dylqn's elytra that changed color every so often, Kayfour's elytra of sunflowers and vines, each elytra, capturing the personality of his family so well, so much better than he can describe. He felt joy as he felt himself fly for the first time, breezing over the forests of hbg, an exhilaration he'd never expected to ever experience, a dream come true after all these years. Couriway whooped as he flew, grazing his hand over the surface of the ocean as he flew towards the sunset. As they soared towards the sunset, they left behind colorful trails of firework sparks, lighting up the night sky as the sun setted, their cheers and whizzes of fireworks filling the air.

---

Fruit had been avoiding Couri. He could tell. Every time the king tried to apologize, Fruit just turned away, his mask covering his face to avoid eye contact.

Couri wasn't able to apologize for the following months. It was frustrating, but he understood why. Who would forgive someone who took away their best friend?

---

Couriway came to realize that Fruit was not receptive to the high horse he was on. He knew he had to shrug off this position, forced on him by both himself and the others. He knew that King of hbg would not get forgiveness from Fruit, but Couriway, the runner, might have a chance of forgiveness.

He left his crown behind (for the first time in months), and walked to the forest behind the castle grounds. That's where Fruit spends most of his time now. Couriway found Fruit sitting in a patch of purple flowers. Alliums, if he recalled correctly.

He left an apology, starting simply with, "I'm sorry."

There was silence for minutes.

Fruit looked up with tears in his eyes. He smiled sadly at Couriway. "I just miss him so much."

"We all miss him, and I'm so sorry that I was the reason why he's gone. I just, fuck. I really fucked up." Everything that he had built up, everything he repressed for the past few months, Couriway finally released it. A King should not, can not, mourn for a citizen publicly, but a runner mourning for a friend? Who's to stop him now? Without the weight of the world on his shoulders, he cried, he mourned, he let himself free. After long agonizing months, he finally let himself out of his burden, from the height of his position, to a humble runner, who went through the same journey through the woods just as anyone else had.

Fruitberries stood up. He hugged Couri. "I accept your apology."

[rosesmusicandaloeveraplants]

a heavy golden crown and a long lost heirloom

he stops fruit's outburst, after fruit storms into hbg's throne room

offers to quell the king's anger with his services in magic, hidden away all this time, peaking its head to protect illumina's brother, his brother

the king asks him to prove it, by showing a golden apple from the treasury

---

he felt his mind tunnel vision

in the king's hands was the golden apple that sat in his home all those years, atop the fireplace

the same golden apple that his family was killed over

the same golden apple that in another kingdom, another throne room, an arrogant king had taunted him with

the same golden apple his mother said one day he'll add his love and magic to, and pass down to his family

he drew a netherrite blade from his mind's inventory and expanded his wings in a flash of bright golden light

posted on ao3 or read below :D

TapL was standing guard in the throne room when Fruitberries stormed in.

Fruit marched in, in Illumina's jacket, with dark eyebags and an uncharacteristic snarl. He went up to the king, enraged, listing accusations.

Then Fruit pulled out a dagger, an iron dagger of brilliant luminance that TapL had a feeling he'd seen in the past. It was Illumina's dagger. TapL saw Illumina's silhouette trying to pull Fruit away, but failing. Illumina glanced at TapL. He knew what he had to do. He dashed over to Fruit, and forced the dagger out of Fruit's hands. The dagger clattered to the ground, the side carved with Illumina's name (shittly engraved but engraved nonetheless) facing the ceiling.

Couriway stood there in shock. Fein and Reign moved in front of their king. They all knew what awaited. A capital crime committed, punishment determined by the king.

"I offer my magic, magic of the Universe Blessed, in service for the Kingdom of HBG," TapL started, kneeling on the ground, "in return, you pardon Fruit."

"You don't have to-" started Fruit, staring at him in shock. Illumina smiled sadly from the corner, knowing it was the right thing to do, protecting a brother, despite the risk of exposing magic to the world again. Illumina and TapL both knew the risk, seeing a kingdom of the past collapse of greed and fear of magic.

"It's my choice." TapL cut Fruit off. He looked up and stared into the King's eyes. "Do you accept my offer?"

"How can you prove it?" Fulham called out, leaning against the entrance of the throne room.

"I'll do whatever it takes to convince you."

"Kayfour, can you go grab the golden apple from the treasury? If TapL speaks the truth, then according to myth his wings will appear when he is in contact with one." Couriway stated, his expression stoic.

A tense silence settled over the room. Kayfour returned with a golden apple in hand, and handed it to the King. TapL felt a rush of memories.

---

A memory of the fireplace in his parents cottage, admiring the golden apple as he played and tackled with his siblings, his parents sharing a loveseat.

A memory of seeing the thieves plucking that apple off the shelf on top of the fireplace, smearing the blood of his parents onto the golden sheen.

A memory of another throne room, another kingdom, a lifetime ago, where a greedy king taunted him with the same apple without showing it. A bluff that cost the king's own life.

A memory from all those nights ago, when he first got his wings, his mother's warm words, telling him how proud she was, and how TapL will be able to add his magic and love into the apple, like the rest of his family did for generations, and making it more powerful.

---

TapL tentatively took the apple from Couriway's hands. The iridescence remained the same as he last saw it. He felt warmth, as his family's spirits, surrounded him, as he opened his wings in a blinding flash of light, his eyes revealing purple and gold as he opened his eyes. It was the first time he's ever touched the family heirloom.

He heard gasps and whispers. Fruit watched, eyes wide as saucers. Couri blinked in surprise, then stated quietly, "Oh universe, he is the universe blessed."

TapL turned to face the King. He drew out the same netherite blade he used in the other throne room years ago.

"Where did you find this apple?" he asked, dangerously quiet.

"Hey there, we can be reasonable you know-"

"This golden apple was passed down my family from generation to generation, until men murdered my family," TapL approached Couriway, backing the King who dreamed of flight into the wall, brandishing the netherite blade up against his crown. Couriway whimpered. Everyone didn't dare to move. TapL tipped the gold crown until it until it dropped to the ground in a resonating clang. "You better start talking Couriway, or I'll assume you are associated with the men who took everything away from me."

[vibesoda]

wghaaa stop shaking me i’m fragile

though thank for giving me an excuse to ramble. (and for being so kind)

i can just tell u some random things I haven’t written anywhere or rlly fleshed out much yet

d!Kayfour, d!Fruit, and d!Feinberg gradually grow their hair out over the course of the story. In my art, you can tell roughly when an event takes place based on a character’s hair length.

So the forest surrounding HBG is called the Run, it’s notorious for being extremely dangerous, and those who have managed to fight their way through are called Runners. This is common knowledge, but no one publicly knows the meaning behind the letters. The records were lost to time, supposedly.

When someone dies, their body only exists for a few seconds before disappearing into a cloud of smoke, just like monsters and animals. Similar to monsters and animals, humans leave items behind when they die. The criteria behind what is left behind by the deceased is largely unknown. The most common theory is that the dead leave behind their most valuable possessions, but the exact definition behind what is considered valuable is heavily debated by scholars.

Some argue that it’s strictly based on rarity or scarcity of certain items. Some believe that it’s based on what the individual considered to be their most valuable possessions. A few believe that it’s chosen by the universe at random. The general public accepts the parameters to most likely be a blend of the first two.

Another heavily debated topic is advancements. Many people denounce the idea of magic, refusing to acknowledge any potion-based, enchantment-based, or dimension-based advancements. Many nether-specific and end-specific advancements are contested due to their dangerous nature and general lack of knowledge surrounding them.

dolorem!Reignberg have matching hair clips, this is mandatory in every depiction of them.

Thunderstorms are heavily superstitious in HBG, it’s said that lighting can create ultra-powerful monsters capable of leveling entire towns and wiping out forests. Most citizens prefer to stay inside during downpours if they can help it.

Death messages do not occur.

@vibesoda [shakes you by the shoulders] tell me all the details in the dolorem au it's so good

[shrimpsicality]

More!!!

In anticipation of Valentine's Day and also because I don't trust myself to post them exactly on time, here are some mcsr valentines!! Part 1 of 2 because of the 10 pics max limit, I'll be reblogging with the rest :D

Credits to fnbc discord and my sister for most of these lines <33