#justice for bigb man | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

polaritiesoop · 8 months ago

Text

Lemme just share here this one-shot? I guess? based on the what-if Scar was left in the SL server for way too long of a time? So yeah, its just Scar all on his own. Trapped in SL for some unforeseeable future. This is supposed to be prologue to a fic idea I have, but I don't know if I'll be able to write it in entirety really. BUT because this took me long to write, I want to share it regardless. Its nothing special. Just Angst. Hurt.... but is there comfort? Technically yes?

Title: Far From Home

Words: 5,000+

Scar is still trapped in the Secret Life Server. With nothing much to do but wait for a miracle to bring him home. But in the mean time, he fixes what he could fix, and tends to animals left on the server.

--------

And that was the last block placed.

Scar take steps back to survey his work. It looks right from what he could remember of the Heart Foundation. There wasn't much interior in it, right? It was just some big heart on the middle of an island filled with cherry wood leaves. Not like Scar was a frequent visitor inside either.

But! ...this was the last structure to rebuild. He has done best on the terrain surrounding the Heart Foundation. Truly can be called pink land at how cherry trees lined up the lake, its petals fluttering on the grass and on the rippling water.

Scar did his best. He never was the closest ally toward Tango, Big B, and Skizz in this server. He resented them. The first few people on his kill list. But they weren't the cruelest either.

This would be the prettiest place at night second after Lizzie's cute little cottage, which he thinks he can never give justice on rebuilding. Though Scar doesn't plan to stick around long for the night to come and see. He has all the time in the world after all.

Scar felt a peck on his cheeks he grew accustomed to along with little chirps and loud squawks near his ear. He looks at the parrot companions perched on his shoulders, a gray and a cyan parrot.

"Wouldn't this be a lovely home for you, Tango and Skizz?" Scar asked all jolly. A peck on his forehead caught his attention, crossing his eyes up to peak at the tilted head of a blue parrot. "And of course you too, Big B!" the blue parrot clambered on his palm. He chuckles at inquisitive looks it give toward the build. It mimics his words rather poorly.

Sinister as it is to call these parrots after the fallen members of the Heart Foundation. One of them...he personally killed. Sure. In his defense, he admits to it now, he did his best to bury what was left of Tango's body. Even burying him with his allies, though it took long to find BigB's and Skizz's body. He just couldn't think of better names when he visited the jungle yesterday, and he was busy making progress in rebuilding the Heart Foundation that he could only think of them, when he saw these three were the only parrots left, as far as he was aware, he plans to return later in hopes to find more.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to let the birds stay in here. They might adjust fine to the cherry wood trees! And Scar could always feed them seeds every day.

"What do you say, if you three stay here?" He asks again expecting a reply, somehow. He lays down some pumpkin seeds on the ground. The birds munch on them quickly. Big B, the parrot, stares at him oddly flapping its wings and squawking. As if trying to communicate, or so was his wishful thinking.

"You guys stay here. I'll come back tomorrow morning." They seem to understand the command, despite being only tamed yesterday. Man, he could be a zookeeper at how many animals he saved and bred! All bases had some animals left that he fed and provided with better areas to live. Scar could go crazy if all he did was rebuild, he had made it his personal mission in keeping the remaining animals in this server. Which came with some extensive farming too.

Scar does leave the Heart Foundation once he was finish surveying his work. The birds were not following him, so he felt comfortable at leaving them be.

Scar hops onto his camel. His petulant camel, he called Cheerio. Cheerio 2.0, he did lose his first camel but he found a camel egg at one of the chests at the abandoned bases of Gem and the Scotts.

"Cheerio, let's go!" Scar got what he would call an equivalent of an eye-roll before Cheerio lifts off the ground and she starts walking. Slowly.

Thus, a petulant camel.

"C'mon, you had plenty of grass to eat!" He pats at her neck, like a complaint she grunts. Horses and other steads would've been better but they weren't quite friendly when Scar tried to ride them. They still remembered their owners even though they seemed scattered about the server, most likely abadoned or forgotten. The best Scar did for them was to build stables, and lead their infuriating butts inside.

But Cheerio 2.0 feels familiar like an old friend that Scar cannot hate.

At the back of his mind, he wonders if any llamas were roaming the server.

Just passing by Trader Scar's, he decided it would be better to leave Cheerio inside opting to walk the rest to the Jungle nearby.

The sun was nearly setting. The sky was on its red and orange hues. Usually Scar would avoid spending the night in a forest area. But today? he was feeling brave!

"Maybe not the best biome..." he thought to himself. The Jungle was green as ever, a creeper's favorite place, definitely. This biome is small, still imposing with its large trees. Scar could hear bugs, yet no birds at all.

He was starting to think it was a bust, it was not worth it, climbing vines peeking on the shades of trees and on the branches, or any signs of nests which last time led him on finding Tango, Skizz, and Big B.

His last resort was to climb the largest tree, trying to spot a different color other than green on the forest floor. Or spot anything moving below, there are green parrots too. The sun sinks beyond the horizon, the cold air was tell tale signs of mobs spawning soon. He should just return tomorrow morning.

"I should get outta here." Scar was about to climb down a vine when he heard a creeper hiss directly behind him. The man yelps and fell off, a flash of pain on his ankle caused him to yell and stay laid on the ground. He manages to realize just in time that the creeper was shuffling towards him. With all the force he could muster, the creeper died at a slash of his diamond sword. It vanishes into gunpowder.

He tries to catch his breathe before checking if he did not just sprained his ankle. To his relief, he could move it with minimal pain, "Oh man, atleast the worst did not happen." Scar laughs, "but it'll be faster to get back to spawn."

There was another hiss.

Scar scrambles to swing his sword behind him. Only not to see any creeper. He quickly turns to look around, but he saw nothing.

Hiss.

There was it again! But there weren't any creepers to see!

"Void, I must be going crazy, huh?" Scar lifts up his shield near his body. He could hear skeletons and spiders too, "serves me right for winning this stupid game."

"Stupid game."

Scar jumped at hearing those words behind him accompanied by a wicked laugh. It was a witch. He twisted to look and parry at an upcoming potion throw, ignoring the sting of pain on his ankle, only for him to be meet with ... nothing.

No large purple hats, no purple robes, no weird long flabby nose.

His pulse quickens and his body is shaken by a cold shiver, "What, what is going on?"

He felt something wet on his nape. Scar wonders if it was going to rain despite the clear skies. His palm wipes at whatever that wet feeling is.

What he sees on his finger pads at the moon light is... white and yellow.

His question is answered to him when he hears a squawk. Fear and confusion was exchanged by excitement. Above him, on pearly light, was a red parrot. It was looking at him. It was squawking. What he got on his fingers was definitely bird poop but he could not be anymore happier at seeing another bird.

"Oh my gosh. Okay, okay... we need seeds." Without looking away, he digs through his pockets for seeds, happy that he still a got a few and thankful that he had not thrown it all out.

"Come here, birdie, birdie. I've got some delicious seeds for you." He offers up a palm full of seeds. The parrot did not move for a second, simply mimicking nearby sounds and flapping its wings. It was just staring.

"Geez, are you picky or something- ow!" Scar felt a prick on his arm. He sees an arrow imbedded on a tree trunk. A skeleton had sneaked behind him. Quick on his feet, he put up his shield and grips his sword. Scar made a quick work of the skeleton but another emerged out of the bushes. Now, he is paying close attention to the surroundings, there were many mobs moving towards him.

He could barely dodge all arrows firing at him, "Awful timing! awful timing!"

He fought every mob coming at him. Until there were none left. He was left breathless but at least the bird did not get hit by an arrow.

Speaking of the bird, he searches around for where it could've gone. It was squawking around while he was fighting.

He was surprised that the seeds he accidentally thrown on the ground were... not there. Consumed by the looks of it.

Scar gasps, "this means it's tamed!"

There were wings flappings overhead. "There you are, young man! I was worried you would fly off somewhere. I'll give you a name later, let's go home for now." Scar extends out his arm for the bird to land on.

Except, it didn't respond. It fled away to the tree tops.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Scar groans at himself, that was not a tamed parrot at all. Of course those seeds were not enough.

Chasing the parrot to wherever it was going was probably not the best idea. At every angle he's getting assaulted by mobs. To climb the treetops instead was hard, spiders could still follow him. The darn parrot just cannot be caught, always airs away from Scar's reach. He does not even have seeds on hand that he needed to climb down again, to try quickly get some watermelons and shove his hand inside to pick some seeds. He had to do it all without keeping his eyes off that parrot.

Oh, and run right after it with arrows sticking up every where on his aching body.

Finally, for what seems like an hour, the parrot landed on the tallest tree. Scar wasn't gonna give up now.

Through panting breaths he yelled pointing a finger at that stoic face, "You better stay there! I am coming to get you!" against his body's protests, he climbs the vines all the way to the top nearly letting go, surprised by the squawk that greets him. How funny.

Scar wheezes as he drags his body to prone on the precarious branch of the tree, "Man, I don't think this is worth it."

"Squawk!"

Scar glares at the parrot. It pecks at its feather in a way for Scar looks like a person picking on their nails. "Oh, you must be sooo proud of yourself, huh."

"Squawk!"

"Alright, alright. You've won the race."

"Squawk!"

"But bet you don't know what a runner does after a marathon."

"Squawk."

"You got it. By after any race, what's better than some hearty refreshments?" Scar presents the wet seeds in his hands, gripped with so much strength during the run his nails left marks on his palm. "This is newly harvested, just so you know from the most finest hands on this server. Well, the only ones really working. Have a taste?" He starts sweating when the parrot tilts its head longer than it probably should. When it did let out a sweet trill and hop near his palm to peck at a seed that Scar lets out a relieved sigh.

Never mind the sharp beak pecking his skin, it could not compare at the burn he feels on his muscles.

"No skipping leg day." He said defeatedly.

"Squawk!"

"Word."

Scar ends up watching the parrot devour the seeds to its hearts content. To lay on his front and having to keep his arm extended is not a comfortable position for the rest of the hour. Scar feels more tired than ever when he could see the sun shining on the hills.

"Would be nice to get a nap."

This time the parrot simply whistles. He wonders if it's already done eating, it kept pecking while he watched the stars and the moon fade away.

Scar felt a sharp pinch. He retracted his hand in shock. "Ouch! What was that for?!" The parrot does not look guilty being hit by an accustory look. It oddly looks satisfied. He would be angry if it wasn't cute to see a seed stuck on its top beak.

"Void, tell me atleast you are tamed." Scar pleads, groaning as he sits up to try and extend his forearm again. The parrot lifts up, circling as if it is acting like it's running away again, but Scar felt happiness welling up when it landed on his forearm.

"Okay this is good. Geez, you took so much seed to tame!" Scar complains right at the parrot's face. It retaliates in the form of a full warm poop. Great.

"...And you're so not friendly. What is wrong with you?" He tuts.

The parrot squawks and he scoffs pointing a finger on its head, "Your companions were perfectly friendly! And not greedy! Skizz and Tango were loud, sure, but they were loveable. Big B loved hiding, acting all sinister, but he loves my hair. But you little man?" Scar huffs, "You are such-... such a ..." Scar trails off. A certain word hangs at the tip of his tongue. And there was that. The sinking feeling in his stomach that clenches him on his ribs to his heart.

His croaks, " ... what a pesky bird."

What is wrong with him? Really, over a word?

The parrot blinks, gnawing his finger without much a reply.

His breath constricts at the wave of it hitting him. A sense of painful nostalgia, flashing to him in a memory of a Jungle far larger and warmer than this - this little excuse of a biome. In a server where he once belongs to now out of his reach... taken out of his reach.

Scar blinks at the tears welling up. He uses his dirty sleeves to brush it off furiously, "Not this again, danggit. Geez!"

The parrot seems to stop gnawing to stare at him in blank confusion.

He lets out a wet laugh. "I miss him."

Scar missed them a lot. It's been how many fucking days has it been since he won? since he realized that he is forever stuck here with a task already fulfilled?

The parrots could not understand that. Nor can Cheerio, nor the steads, Lizzie's bees, nor Etho's sheep. No one's coming back for those animals other than Scar.

Good for them, because who the hell is coming back for Scar?

"He did not even come back for me, stupid... Grian." Scar wipes at his tears, and forces a breath pass to his lungs. "This is pathetic."

When is anyone going to come back for him? he questions this everyday. He has nightmares of Pearl, of Etho, of Tango, of anyone, choking and killing and crying at them his question more like a plea. He screams at the Secret Keeper of his question.

But curse the gods and all, no one will hear him.

"Squawk."

Except a parrot obviously. Scar couldn't help chuckling at the parrot's antics, it landed on his head doing whatever on his hair. He wipes his tears away, finding this whole thing ridiculous. This bird is ridiculous. It pooped again, on his hair.

"Yeah, I'm calling you Grian." Scar smiles, the name carries a heavy weight on his heart.

"Squawk!"

"Not the best person to be named after I tell you."

-----

Trying to get Cheerio to hurry up her pace while keeping an eye on Grian so as not fly off anywhere, overcame Scar's whole being with absolute exhaustion when they finally reached the Heart Foundation. It would be best to leave the new parrot here too, where he can live and be taken care of too. Scar knows how parrots are not solitary animals.

"Off you go now, shoo! I had enough of you squawking at my ear and pooping on my cape!" Scar scolds urging other parrots to get accustomed with their newest addition. He can already tell they are familiar with each other. Plus, Scar is not too keen on having this kind of parrot companion admittedly amusing but a very obnoxious bird. Something, something namesake.

"I am leaving you guys now." Scar offers up more seeds for the birds before leaving the island.

He couldn't help but stare at the flock, they were flying around well and playing by the looks of it. There shouldn't be any concern then in leaving them.

Scar realized halfway to spawn that he does not have any more goals in mind. He was relieved to find Grian, and he was sure there were no more other birds in that Jungle.

In like some sort of trance, Scar steers Cheerio on the way to the base of Etho and Cleo. The sheep and cows need tending to for sure. Before he knew it, he was making rounds around the server to check on the animals leaving the mounders for last.

Scar replaced the water and gave more hay to one of Bdub's horse. That he might as well call Bdubs! His mane does remind him of that man's hair when it was blond. Scar chuckles at it, heart achingly, because he misses that little man too. They were at petty odds fighting over who is Cleo's favorite child, but his angry shouts and jolly attitude... Scar misses him.

"Oh, the sun's setting." Scar murmurs to himself. He got caught in the chores again, geez.

So, what to do next? Scar wonders. He decided to walk Cheerio instead of riding on. He was in his thoughts when the sky darkens around him.

Subconsciously, Scar came to the Secret Keeper.

It was a mess. He had left so many papers on the ground, some teared up and some empty, scattered with leather covers. There is a serious overgrowth all over this area. Foliage and wildflowers, moss and cracks on the concrete.

When was the last time he visited this area? 10 days? 20 days? Scar knew he managed to steer clear for a while. He has lost count of days, as making a diary felt like an unnecessary chore.

He feels his fingers itch. Right in front of him was the button, never quite worn up at all unlike the fail and the reroll buttons.

He lets Cheerio stay out, as he walks near it. A part of him is anticipating, which is funny how he still got this glimmer of hope that something would change one day if he just presses that button again. But he knew he would be only disappointed.

"I'm here." Scar announces. He hovers over the button. He stares at the statue through tired eyes. Of course, it does not respond.

Scar slams the succeed button and the incorporeal voices were near comfort to his ears despite the gibberish whispers. He hears that music saying he succeeded, but he once again hears the whispers and another book has popped and landed on his hands.

Win Secret Life.

Scar sighs, "Same thing." and the new book joins the others on the ground. Scar sat down, his back against the button. He closes his eyes and breathes out. He wraps his arms around his legs, never opening his eyes as he feels for the moonlight and the night breeze.

-------

There was a rumble.

It had awoken Scar up. Though his back aches and his vision was blurry from sleep, he managed to see a bright object dropping down from the sky and its blast illuminating an area of the server before disappearing with a boom followed by a shockwave that made Scar stumble to his front.

He groans at the impact and the scrape the cobbled ground gave him. Other than that and a faint ringing in his ears, he was okay. Thank the void he was okay.

Scar could only stay sat on the ground. He could see that there is smoke on the distance but not too far. When he realized where it went, he felt the urge to run for it, even though he knew it was just his destroyed base.

Cheerio was being loud, the poor animal is probably in distress. As gentle as he could, he stood up to comfort the camel.

"Shhh, Cheerio... everything's fine. We're okay." He said soothing her to calm down. It seems to help, though she seems agitated still. Scar doesn't know what to do other than continue patting her.

....What in the world happen?

It was good that whatever the thing that flew and crash landed on his base was not a bigger blast. The shockwave made him believe it's radius of explosion would expand all across the server. The Mounder's base looks perfectly intact from what Scar could see from the secret keeper atleast. Was it a meteor?

Scar pushes the camel to sit, "Sit down, Cheerio. That rumbled must've got you off balanced. I'll go investigate." and surprisingly, she listened to him. For the most part she looks to be calming down, so Scar felt good enough to leave her to make his way to his base.

It was mostly curiosity than concern of what happened to his base. It wasn't intact at all when he left it, only its walls and parts of the court house were destroyed because of tnt traps.

So when Scar was near enough to see what really hit it.... things were mostly fine. Like the impact was from another tnt not some space object. There was a small crater at the front of what used to be Trader's Scar....yet oddly, no space object to see. But the sunflowers and berry bushes near it were scorched around the assumed point of impact. Scar was beyond confused. He wonders if this is another hallucination or a weird dream.

His eyes searches around. Nothing is amiss. He contemplates if he should just go back to Cheerio until there was an echoing sound, of something high pitched that made him jump.

He looks at his back at the ruins of Trader's Scar. There was it again, it sounded like a child crying and the thought of a baby suddenly spawning in this server made Scar shiver. He asked to get out of here, for god's sake!

Scar was going to run away but it sounds more and more insistent and faded. It rings a bell, somehow, that Scar felt a sense of deja vu. That echoing cry of something could only come from the mine shaft and mob farm he made long exposed to weather. Probably dangerous to go down its ladders.

Scar observes. The ladders are intact and not erroding as he thought. There's no more light, all torches burned off since he stopped coming here. A cold air passes through him from the hole. Is it actual air or fear seeping in his skin? Because this feels like the start of a horror movie!

"Do I really have to?" Scar whines. He hadn't expected a response yet he got one akin to an ominous drone that made him want to sprint to the secret keeper for protection.

"Okay! When did my mineshaft become such a place of nightmares?" He laughs nervously, hair rising as his words echo down and that sound suddenly stopped.

Does he really want to go down there? There has to be so many mobs Scar will struggle to defeat. He breathes in deeply thinking about how worth it is to face whatever creature that is. On the bright side its something new! Scar is curious and bored, worst case scenario? Nothing! He will always respawn back at the secret keeper and he can curse at it for bringing a haunted creature at him, and not some getaway helicopter back to home!

Scar's hands has made the decision before his brain starts to function. The ladder felt rickety to his sweaty grip.

"Why am I doing this to myself?"

Only eerie silence met him this time. A normal person would think thats cue to leave.

Unfortunately for everyone, Scar is far from normal.

His feet finally hit cobble. He was surprise that there is still a torch lighting the tunnels dim. No immediate attack from some mob, no hideous clown face coming to gnaw him.

"I did come all the way down here." Scar sighs, "There's no going back."

He takes another torch to light from his inventory. He is surprised of his own bravery of looking and exploring tunnels. So far he cannot hear that crying sound from everywhere.

Nothing really remarkable caught his attention. Everything looks normal, too normal and somehow strange for Scar. This was his mineshaft, sure everything looks the same, but there is no attachment to this place, it was simply a reminder of that urgency Scar felt because of the unfortunate tasks that brought him to this situation.

He hears a shuffle. That couldn't have come from him as he was stood on a little room carved out to accomodate chests of random items. He was starting to hear his pulse because of the silence, now he hears it gallop because of that odd noise.

"A-alright! What comes there?!" Scar decides to bravely ask. He wants to get this over with. He equips his sword, ready to face whatever is at the dark, "Just know that I can and will kill you once I find you."

He hears that cry, now much closer but still echoing around the walls he could never quite pinpoint the source. His eyes frantically looks around, for any thing thats moving.

Scar picks to march on another tunnel. Staying silent to observe that cry, where he could hear it closest. He follows it, the turns he takes are almost dizzying that makes him feel lost forever or that he was in some labyrinth that BigB made. But he could hear it clearer and he knew he was close, he wasn't gonna turn around. He reaches another room. This ones bigger and was obviously a section of a cave he found. The crying stopped. Scar held his breath anticipating to hear it at any of the tunnels.

At the corner of his eyes, he spots movement. He was swift to turn to his feet onto the long winding tunnel. He dropped the torch away to equip his shield and approaches the shadow he can see at the end of it. It turns at him, and he hears a hiss. He knew it was too late to hit it, so he braces for impact with his shield but it never came. None of the familiar blast. Instead, the creeper seems to back away. Unmoving. Scar tilts his head in confusion. Why was the creeper not blowing up, and when he did adjust his eyes to the dark, its back was turned on him.

Then, he felt something brush at his thigh. He screams in panic, lets go of his shield, lands on his butt rather painfully, and realizes that the creeper was suddenly shuffling closer towards him. It flashes before Scar's hand could hold up the shield. He could only close his eyes, knowing it hurts more to get his eyeballs blasted.

'Well, I'm coming home, Secret Keeper.'

Something landed on his head. He heard more hissing but this one... this one hiss wasn't the kind of distinct hiss of a creeper.

Scar froze unable to really move at whatever it was on his head. But it was lightweight. Oddly familiar. His scalp is hurting and getting pricked by something, and the creeper was... running away?

"What just happened?" He asks. Expecting an answer. Something landed on his stomach. His hands comes around it. The silhouette of what was....

"Meow."

...a cat?

Scar knows that Impulse has a villager along with Scott and Gem that they used to trade with. He found the villager, but it was only singular that couldn't form a village on his own that Scar set free to be killed by mobs. There were no village on the server, nor any beyond the border. So, how was there a cat existing in this server? And here in a mineshaft of all areas?

Scar holds the cat. The torch he left on the ground long extinguished.

"Who are you?" He asks. He got a paw on his mouth.

However, he was stupid to turn his back on the creeper still on the tunnel with them that it blew up behind him sending him to fall forward on his front. The cat definitely jumped out his hold.

Scar groans, "Yep, hurts. Everything hurts." He turns on his back. Just laying there unable to move much. He doesn't really care if it stings to... he just wants to lay down and take everything in.

That cat clambered on him. He would've told it to get off because its claws were scraping at new wounds when he felt a lick on his chin. What a sweet cat! He couldn't help but pet it even if the cat starts to nip at his nose.

"I don't know how you got here, but you're coming with me." Scar chuckles, hated how his ribs were definitely cracked. He remembers that he had a lantern on his inventory.

"Alright, mysterious cave cat. Let's see what you look like, and I'll name whatever first name I could think of." Scar grunts with what little strength he had on his hand, he gets the lantern to materialize. The cat mewls.

Scar turns to look at wherever he could put it and light it with a flint and steel.

His eyes shut at the pain of even moving, willing out the sudden lightheadedness he felt swaying his vision. He holds onto the cat, "Let's see... I'm naming you..." and lifts it up to see it clearly.

His breath caught in his throat. Heat pools behind his eyes at the familiarity of those eyes. Green eyes blinking down at him owlishly. The cat was of white fur and grey patterns so familiar to Scar that he knew right away that this cat wasn't just any cat at all.

"...Jellie?" His voice wavesr, unsure if he has truly gone out of his mind.

The cat mewls and bumps her head onto him. Fluffy and warm, a gesture so familiar that Scar tears up.

"Jellie... god, is it really you?" She purred, pawing on him and rubbing her head on his chin. Scar sobs.

It was Jellie. Jellie came for him. His sweet girl was here for him.

He holds her up laughing, and sobbing at how ridiculous this dream was but he wishes... how he fucking wishes to the secret keeper that he won't wake up ever.

"I've been...so alone, Jellie. You don't know how much I've missed you." Scar sobs out.

Jellie was here! Jellie is in his arms now, and god, crying hurts his chest but he couldn't stop. He never thought a piece of home would come for him at all in this endless game. Jellie was warm, and safe, and purring.

Scar was a mess on the cave floor, in utter agony from his injuries but the happiness and relief he feels at the moment has made the pain worth it.

Scar wasn't still in hermitcraft. This isn't Scarland. This isn't his tree house. His friends were not here. Scar was far from home. That constant hum of life was still in his bones.

But Scar has never felt any safer and happier than having Jellie in his embrace. He chokes out words he cannot understand himself.

But he murmurs it anyway at the top of Jellie's head, "I'm home."

#goodtimeswithscar #secret life #secret life fanfiction #goodtimeswithscar fanfic #third life smp #trafficblr

28 notes · View notes

ilexdiapason · 2 years ago

Text

(link to the original story!) | (universe by @liloinkoink, but it’s my nissan micra!)

Well, Martyn’s really and truly fucked it.

It’s all well and good to say you’re living in a fantasy world now, time to seduce the king and shoo off his fiancé, get moving, but actually getting in there and trying to do it had been another story. He’d had great difficulty steering Scar in the right direction with all the restrictions of his palace guard position, he’d constantly had to excuse himself to Skizz about his strange disappearances and slacking behaviour, and worst of all he’d managed to cock it up to the point that Bdubs veered straight off into the Etho route and ran off with him before Martyn got the chance to do anything about it. Which he had really doubted would be possible, given the number of interactions they’d actually had by that point, but apparently it was enough.

He just - he feels like he’s a bad judge for these things. It’s easy when you’ve got a nice big visible bar at the top of the screen to let you know how close you are to being able to smooch your man of choice, but now that this is Martyn’s reality…

Either way. Doesn’t matter. Etho’s used the last of his power in Dogwarts to orchestrate the assassination of the Red King, and it’s all come crashing down.

At least, he assumes that that’s what happened, given that he can’t see an assailant, but Ren’s just been shot in the chest anyway.

Quicker than Cleo’s preferred method, at least, he tries to reassure himself, kneeling and applying pressure to the King’s wound as much as possible, although he knows somewhere deep within him that it’s not gonna work. God, he hasn’t - he’s not played Etho’s route through enough times to keep track of how they bumped the King off, but he’s pretty sure it involved a remotely-detonated mechanism. Something to keep the blame off them scot-free; something Etho would only have the time and inspiration to invent if you unlocked enough special scenes of him forging shirtless and sweaty in the workshop or whatever. If you didn’t, he wouldn’t have the skills, and he’d get the gallows for it instead.

“Who,” Ren croaks from beneath him, “who - who did this?”

“Shh-shh-shh-shh-shh,” Martyn tries fruitlessly to reassure him. “Sir BigB’s run in the direction of what- of whoever it was. Don’t tire yourself out, my lord. Just let me take care of this. You’ll be fine.”

He’s not gonna be fine. God. Shit.

One shot and he’s fucked it.

“This is -” Ren attempts to reach for the arrow lodged between his ribs, but his arms can’t quite coordinate the movement “- too serious. Who -?”

“Don’t,” he insists. “I promise you’ll be okay,” he lies. “Just stay still and I’ll - and help will come.”

The King doesn’t look convinced. The reality of his death appears to be setting in now. He moves instead for the half-moon glasses that sit askew across his nose, nail hitching on an encrusted diamond, pushing them back into place. “You’ll have their head for me, won’t you, soldier?”

“Of course, my liege. Stay down.” Ren needs this, Martyn thinks - in a world where his last hope for love has abandoned him, loyalty will have to do. And Martyn’s going to snitch on Etho for this, for all the good it’ll do. He has to.

“I want them to -” he starts coughing violently, then, and Martyn begins shushing him again, still pressing on the wound, because for all he’s meant to be a knight he’s never actually been taught first aid and he’s just kind of running off the vague memory of hearing that you’re not supposed to pull the knife out.

“Of course.”

“To suffer,” Ren finishes weakly.

“They will see justice, my lord. The hand of Dogwarts will not be kind to them.”

Etho’s gonna fuckin’ pay.

Martyn closes his eyes and listens to the sounds of the castle - to the quiet muttering among the other knights in the room, and the distant noise of celebration, as yet unaware of the fate that’s befallen their King. Today is a holy day, from what he’s gathered, and not one Prince Bdubs was ever in the mind to celebrate. They’re probably halfway to Centuria by now; something about crossing the river in the night, and looking into each other’s eyes, and Etho removing that bandanna for only him, because Bdubs is the only one he trusts enough to show his scars to. Sickening, really. Etho’s killed a man tonight, and all him and Bdubs are thinking about is how pretty each other’s mouths are. Martyn doesn’t want to dwell on that any longer than he has to - but he also really, really doesn’t want to watch the light drain from Ren’s eyes as the search party turns up cold and the Red King dies in his most useless soldier’s arms.

Martyn lets his head drop onto the King’s torso, eyes dry but heart entirely numb. He’s fucked it, and he’s going to have to live with it.

This is his failure. This is his legacy.

When the cold, smooth marble under his knees turns to rough-worn fabric, it’s enough to shock him into sitting up. Except he doesn’t sit - he pitches directly out of an unsteady hammock and on to the planks of the ground, and hold on a second -

Someone barks out a startled laugh. “Woah, man, you good?”

Skizz. Martyn picks himself up and pulls away the blanket that’s tangled around his shoulders and he’s back in the soldier’s quarters, somehow, apparently.

“Don’t tell me you’re already hungover,” says Skizz, and claps him on the shoulder, and isn’t this what he - “C’mon, the engagement party’s tonight! You don’t want to be out of commission before it’s even started.”

“The - tonight?”

But that was - but he’s -

Martyn’s -

“Jeez, man, what did you get up to last night? Yes, that’s tonight, it’s Saturday. I know time flies, but -”

“Sorry, Skizz,” Martyn interrupts, because he’s getting a second chance, and the gleeful truth of it is rising in him like a tsunami, “guess I just lost track of time. Right - engagement party. I’m on it now. Don’t stress.”

“Good,” laughs Skizz, “I already covered for you when Etho came through, but I dunno how I feel about running around after you all night.”

Martyn raises an eyebrow. “Pretty sure you’d do it, no questions, no complaints.”

Of course Skizz has no idea where Martyn gets that impression from, and certainly doesn’t realise that it’s because Skizz already did do that last time, but he still rolls his eyes and smiles. “Yeah. But that’s just ‘cause you’re my dude, and we gotta stick together! Now c’mon, we’re late already. We should head down and get suited up.”

A second chance. Another shot at saving the Red King from the tragedy that is Prince Bdubs’ fickle heart and careless decision-making. Martyn’s got experience now, and he’s gonna learn from his mistakes, and he’s gonna get it right.

Dogwarts can only do so much on her own. It’s looking like she’s gonna need a Hand to extend her reach, to help her keep her king alive and happy.

He barely pays attention while he’s putting on his armour this time, much more occupied by thoughts of what he’s going to say when he finally runs into Ren.

#treesekai #treebark #trafficshipping #joining the parade of ppl who are writing for this au because its so dumb but so appealing #ilexworks

81 notes · View notes