Ender

Nerd, writer, internet lurker (she/her)

[mcyt-alphabet-challenge]

The time is finally here for sign ups to open!

Below you can find the link to the sign up form, any clarifications needed on any of the questions can be inquired on the discord. Happy sign ups!

@mcytblrsource

MCYT alphabet challenge participant form

Find me on tumblr (@mcyt-alphabet-challenge) with any questions you may have!

[batman-lucy]

feeling random so um

TAG ONE PERSON WHO YOU THINK DESERVES THE WORLD AND WHO YOU LOVE VERY MUCH

(can be platonic or romantic love, feel free to specify)

and to the person being tagged...

YOU ARE SO LOVED, YOU DESERVE THE WORLD, AND HAVE A FANTABULOUS DAY

obvi my tag is my bf <3 @choucon

JOIN THE TRAIN PEOPLE

[sugar-craxy]

*cracks finger* Let's see how many people this sugarcube can tag. Who cares if this is more than 1 person, explosion upon ye!

@gh0stkitti @lostinthe-void-666 @sleepybunnysnail @wifilukas @schlaumaus @corrundumcat @gardeninaquarium @periwinklepaint @hey-its-celeste @arcticfoxpup42 @severevoiddragon @stresscr0w @bluetbluish @mysteriouscanaryanon @scorpionanon + all the anons discovered and undiscovered

+ our cat

+ those who's url are forgotten by this cube (sorry😭)

Love yall /plat

[arcticfoxpup42]

Well how can I say no to this, Sugar?

Hmmmmm, it feels weird doing one person after **that**, so I'll just do a few!!!

@yumesakura97 Might be a bit strange but honestly, I think it's deserved. One of the few fans of my work who I do not personally know, and absolutely amazing art!

@justglacier12 Hilarous, natural leader, caring, extended family with insane lore, talented, over the top, has insane lore vemself. What more could one ask for in a parent?

@hellkeep Sneaky little--no but seriously, Lukas you're amazing, I wish we talked more, keep up all your amazing vibes my dude!

@the-solar-eclipsed Yes I know you're in Taiwan, no I do not care. GET LOVED DING DONG. You are an incredible artist, loving, kind, affectionate, patient, and so so sweet. For a demon, you sure seem to be angelic.

@3nn-nn4 Wonderful little blorbo, has been an amazing beta reader, an incredible listener, and kind through thick and thing. Exaaaactlyyyyy.

@enderfoxx-77 I promised a more in detail affectionate rant about you, and damn it, I keep my promises!!! You are a wonderful person, amazing writer, amazing roleplayer, and always make me laugh!!! You're strong, resilient, and creative!!! We haven't talked as much with Souls Life ending, but I still think about you and all our crazy adventures, because you brought so much joy into my life through Souls Life. DREAM TRIO LIVES FOREVER.

@thisiswasabis and @biteside-gummieshark You two have made me feel loved, appreciated, and have made me laugh so hard my stomach hurts. I'm so glad to have met you both through Souls Life because you have both changed me for the better. (*Wicked intensifies* /silly) You are both wonderful people who I view as family!!!

@fledgeheart *gay intensifies* /silly No but honestly, I cannot imagine my world without Fledge fricken Heart. I don't know how I've gone this long without knowing my pretty bird, and I am so so so grateful for all the different events that lead up to us meeting. Forever in my heart, you are my everything, and I swear on my life I will be your's forever.

And @sugar-craxy Because you deserve love too, you are hilarious, all over the place, and always brighten my day with whatever random sh-t you've pulled out of your brain. There's never a dull moment when you're around!

[enderfoxx-77]

Arctic!!! 🥺🥺🥺

You’re way too sweet, y’know, and I’ve missed chatting and rp-ing with you so much! Dream trio forever <3

As for others:

@thisiswasabis I know Arctic already mentioned you, but you spring to mind for me also, I’ve really enjoyed the times we’ve played Minecraft together (btw hit me up anytime and I’m down to play) and of course rp-ing with you too

@jesikeran Jesi!!! I think you’re such a cool person and really enjoyed our time together in Souls Life (even though our characters didn’t exactly end on good terms with each other XD)

[trafficblrpositivityproject]

Shoutout to @enderfoxx-77 and her gigaheartz au! I remember getting into skizzpulse and that being the first fic I read of them when scouring ao3 one night. It's so good and definitely worth a read!

https://archiveofourown.org/series/4771330 <-- link to the au

@enderfoxx-77 !!!

Clickable link!

[enderfoxx-77]

Wha huh hi hello thank you so much whoever you are!!!!

[soulslife-rp]

Chapter Three: What Comes Up

HELLO THERE!!!! It is I, Arctic!!!! And I am here with Chapter Three (Yes Chapter Three, shut up, we'll reblog the other chapters and bonuses soon enough, for now just go to my tumblr @arcticfoxpup42 ) of Souls Life!!!!!

I actually got stuff done, aren't you proud? *Stares at the many other chapters and bonuses* Mhm, I'm on a roll!!!!!

Anyhow, let's not beat around the bush, shall we? How does the saying go again?

What Comes Up...

Jesikeran hit the ground too hard whilst trying to escape a creeper.

Well.

That was not how they expected their third day in Minecraft to go.

Jesi had been trying, for the life of them, to find supplies. They managed to get some iron, coal, wood, and food.

You know what they still hadn’t gotten after all that time? Sheep.

It was a bit uncanny. They had seen pigs, cows, a baby zombie, chickens, a baby zombie riding a chicken…but no sheep. At all. It was uncanny and frustrating. They had really wanted to make a bed.

But they had gotten other stuff! That was…until a weird bright green creature that they had learned the hard way was an explosive creeper had appeared. And caused them to fall down into a ravine. 

Which hadn’t been fun, although they would’ve been surprised if it had.

“OH WHAT THE–” Jesi shouted, stumbling as they found themselves standing…where are they? They spin around, eyes searching. It looks like…spawn?

“Ok. Ok. I’m just back where we all started. It’s fine, everything’s fine.” Jesi mumbled to themself, closing their eyes and taking in a deep breath. Their head was pounding…but otherwise, they seemed to be fine.

Jesi spotted three people coming their way. Squinting, they were pretty sure it was Elliott, Arctic, and Bee.

“JESI!!” Elliott called out, waving as he reached them. “What happened to–what the fuck happened oh my god.” He panted, resting his hands on his knees, seemingly catching his breath.

Arctic came next, voice slightly hoarse and eyes glistening–wait, had she been crying? What happened there? “Jesi? What’s going on?”

Finally, Bee. “What the fuck happened?” She asked, coming up beside Elliott.

“Hi? Hi.” Jesi said, confused on how they knew to get here so quickly–and honestly, still a bit shaky from a near death–no, actual death–expirience. 

“Hi Jesi.” Elliott said, scanning them over for injuries. “What happened to you?” He demanded. Bit harsh. Then again, Jesi was almost positive they died, so wanting to know what happened seemed reasonable enough.

“Uh.” Jesi groaned, rubbing at their face. “You could say I got lost. Top tip: ravines are bad and scary. As are creepers.”

Elliott’s eyes trail lower, to Jesi’s wrist. “What are you loo–oh.” Their bracelet. Instead of the four dark green hearts it had before, it now only had three hearts…and they were light green. 

“Oh. uh. Okay! You died that’s–that's what happened. Yep okay fine, sure!” Elliott said, nodding his head slowly. Like it was normal. Where had Elliott come from for dying and coming back to be seen as normal? 

Bee glared at him. “Is it fine, Elliott?”

Elliott’s hand not holding his walking stick went flying up. “Of course it’s not fine, WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY?”

“Ask if they're okay? Say how NOT FINE IT IS?” Bee offered, before sighing, rubbing at her eyes. “Sorry, just…stressed. Slept badly, now this…Jesi, are you okay?”

Arctic seemed a bit spacey, acting different than the friendly and over the top girl Jesi originally met. They watched as the girl seemed to shrink a bit at the arguing, before stepping back and walking away. 

Jesi figured that if Arctic was trying to slip away quietly, they should let it happen. ‘Quiet’ wasn’t a word they would’ve used to describe the girl, after all.

Turning to Bee, they answered her question. “I….think so? Not gonna lie, it’s a little disorienting to be standing here with no damage after…yeah.”

“You look..okay?” Bee said. “No bad visible injuries but you never know…a lot has happened since you left..fuck we should’ve sent someone with you to get wool.” 

Jesi groaned. “You know the worst part? Never found any sheep. Not that it matters, since I lost everything anyhow.”

Elliott seemed to perk up at that. “So no keep inventory…good to know.”

“It seems our Life Series nerdiness will finally come in handy.” Bee said, and Jesi couldn’t tell if that was a joke or not. “I mean, it might tell us what we’re in?” So, no, it wasn’t a joke, but she was right.

And they said binging the Life Series wouldn’t be a helpful life skill.

“So…no timer, not Limited.” Bee began, studying her own body like a watch or something would magically appear.

“No one died with me, so not double.” Jesi pointed out.

“4 lives. 4 lives…” Elliott said, tapping his foot. “That’s not…any of them. Not the ones we’ve seen, at least.”

“Really?” Jesi asked, furrowing their brow.

Elliott nodded. “Third Life had three, Last Life 2-6, Double Life and Limited Life obviously not…”

“Could be Last Life?” Jesi offered up, crossing their arms across their chest.

“Well, I doubt we all randomly got assigned 4 lives.” Bee pointed out. “And no sign of a boogeyman…so far.” Jesi shivered at the idea.

“Secret Life only had three, and Wild and Past both had six.” Elliott finished, and it slowly settled in what that meant.

“Great.” Jesi and Bee said in unison, the double sarcasm dripping like acid.

“So we have a new fucked up series, just for us.” Bee added, digging her nails into her arm. 

“Wonderful, love that for us.” Elliott said dryly. Then he added, “Uh…I guess we should go do something? Get ready for the day?”

Bee shrugged. “I don’t know…I have food. And a base. There’s nothing much else I need…”

“I might get Crow and separate ourselves from the main hut in the plains. It’s a little bit…crowded.”

Jesi considered this, going through what they needed. No point in trying to find their stuff, who knows how far away they got? With that in mind, they needed to find some animals, go mining, make a farm…

“I should probably find a place to base properly.” They thought out loud. A new person was approaching them, one Jesi was entirely unfamiliar with.

“BEE!!!!!” The stranger shouted.

Bee whipped around, looking terrified. “Oh.” She breathed a sigh of relief and waved to the new person. “Hey Siphon!!!”

The new person–Siphon, apparently–closed the distance between them and the rest of the group. “What are you guys doing?”

“Totally not freaking out.” Jesi joked.

Bee rolled her eyes. “Well, Jesi died and so we’re talking about what the fuck is going on…and also our pretty bases.”

“Oh gosh!” Siphon said, before looking around just a bit. “Who’s Jesi?” Probably the unfamiliar person standing in front of him, but that was just a guess and all.

Jesi stepped forward, doing a dramatic wave to get Siphon’s attention. “Hi, Hello, That’s me!”

“Oh yeah…” Bee began, gesturing her hand between them. “Siphon this is Jesi, Jesi this is Siphon. They appeared from the sky yesterday.” They did wha– “Don’t ask.” Okay then.

“Oh hello!” Siphon returned the dramatic wave. “Wait, you died?!” She scans them up and down, as if checking for injuries. 

Jesi shrugged. “I died and then apparently got better.”

“It’s called respawn, I think.” Elliott said with a sigh.

“Wait, that can just…happen?” Siphon asked, wide eyed. “I mean–how?”

“Minecraft Logic.” Bee offered with a nod of her head.

“...I’m sorry, what?” Siphon asked.

“Yeah, what Bee said.” Jesi confirmed. “Welcome to Minecraft.”

“...thanks?” He blinked slowly. 

Bee sighed, stretching. “Welcome to Minecraft, the hellhole we're stuck in until we kill each other or ourselves for the final time.” Dead silence rang across the four of them.

Finally, Elliott gave a weak, one handed cheer. “...yay…”

“Anyways…I gotta go…gonna find Crow.” Elliott said, waving the group off.

“I’m gonna try Life take 2, anyone want to join me in getting materials?” Jesi asked.

Siphon perked up. “I would! I need things.” 

Bee, however, shook her head. “Maybe later, but I swear I heard something by the hut…I’m gonna head over there. If you need me, I’ll either be there or at my base in the mountains.”

“Okay, stay safe!” Siphon warned her.

“Good luck, don’t die.” Bee countered dryly.

“See you around, Bee.” Jesi said in goodbye. Bee waved and stepped back.

And with that, the moth girl wandered away as well. 

“So…where should we go for material gathering?” Siphon asked.

“Well, I’d prefer to avoid caves and ravines at the moment.” Jesi said, half joking. Their eyes trail up to the mountains close by. “Maybe up there? We could try to find some surface ore.”

Siphon hummed. “I’ve already got ore–some coal–so I was thinking maybe food first?” Not a bad idea. Jesi had been hoping to start a farm, anyway.

“Sure!” They said.

“Okay, so…” Siphon looked around. “Should we go to the forest first? Or the plains?” Well, Jesi had their answer the moment that horrid forest was mentioned.

“The plains will probably have some good plant–based food…and the forest is a little…weird, to put it lightly.” Jesi explained.

“Alright then!” Siphon begins to walk towards where Jesi can only assume the plains in question are. “To the plains we go!”

“To the plains!” Jesi agrees, following the person.

***

“I don’t think that’s working, sorry…maybe make a different tool?” Was the first thing Jesi heard while approaching a group in the plains. Looked like Ender, Crow, and Elliott (who was the one speaking) were outside of a little hut.

Siphon was wandering close by, in search of something–probably animals, or maybe plants. Jesi went over to a nearby tree, punching wood and listening in on the conversations.

Crow seemed to be acting…odd…and it appeared Ender and Elliott were tag teaming calling him out on it. “I thought you made yourself tools when you made my shovel, Crow.” Ender was saying. “Shouldn’t they be in your inventory?”

“Yes yes! I uh–totally have it, right here! Just gotta…find it…” Crow babbled. Now, Jesi hadn’t talked to Crow much before going on a sheep hunt, but they were pretty sure he hadn’t spoken like that.

He had seemed, frankly, pretty calm. But they could very well be wrong. However, Elliott’s commentary made them think they weren’t. “Uh…sure…okay…” He said, before saying something Jesi was 98% sure was, “My Crow wasn’t like this before…”

Jesi continued to punch the wood on the trees, ignoring the slight ache in her knuckles. With all the wood they’d gathered before, it didn’t hurt nearly as bad as it had initially. 

Crow must have looked into his inventory, because they heard him say, “...perhaps I left them somewhere else?” Which. Alright, Jesi could just be going out on a limb (wouldn’t be the first time.) But they were pretty sure Crow had never used the word ‘perhaps’ when they first met. At all.

Jesi paused her punching to give Ender a “What the heck?” look. Ender responded with a helpless shrug, shaking her head. It read as “No idea, don’t question.” So Jesi let it go. Or. Tried to.

“You would just…leave your tools?” Ender asked, sounding slightly offended. Jesi had to agree, leaving your tools around seemed idiotic, to say the least.

“It’s a hoe!” Crow countered. “I didn’t think it’d be that important and I needed inventory space!” Ah, so that’s what had started this whole thing, it seemed–Crow had needed a hoe for something.

“Alright, look.” Elliott spoke up, sighing. A quick glance, and Jesi could spy a hoe in his hands, holding it out to Crow. “You can borrow mine. I can make another one, easy.”

“Ah, thank you!” Crow answered, accepting the hoe. Jesi continued to punch the tree, expecting that to be the end of it.

Their mistake.

“What–what tools would you consider to be important?” Ender asked, eyeing the two boys suspiciously. Jesi was collecting the wood she had managed to grab, and spotted Ender clutching a shovel tightly.

They also got to watch in real time as Crow visibly paled and seemed to have an internal freak out. “...shovels.” He squeaked out. Jesi had the urge to pat the poor boy on the head.

Ender nodded her approval, grinning from ear to ear. “What about you?” She asked Elliott.

“Pixaxes, swords, axe…maybe a shovel too?” Elliott offered, crafting a hoe as he spoke.

“Maybe?? MAYBE???” Alright, what had Jesi missed, when did Ender become obsessed with shovels? Was this always a thing? They supposed that was possible.

Either way, tension seemed to be rising, and Jesi would prefer to leave right about then. Luck was on their side, because they spotted Siphon close by. “Hey Siphon, do you have a base set up?” They asked.

“Oh yeah, up the mountains!” Siphon explained, gathering up some meat and–wait, was that wool???? Oh for the love of–

Whatever, Jesi was fine. It was. Fine. They were just a little salty.

“And would you mind if I joined you there? I’ve kind of…skipped that step, so far.” Jesi admitted. They could see Elliott trying to defend himself to an insulted Ender…oh boy. Yeah, leaving sounded good.

“Oh yeah sure, we could be neighbors!” Siphon agreed brightly. “Bee already has a cabin near me, you know!” Jesi, in fact, did not know that, but that explained why the two seemed friendly.

“Cool, thank you!” Jesi chirped, looking around. They couldn’t spy any other trees nearby…but there was a melon! They kicked at the thing until it broke apart and placed it all in their inventory.

And happened to look up to spy Siphon near a good cluster of trees, punching away. “I–I’m apparently blind.” Jesi said to nobody in particular. “How did I not see the trees??” They were, by all means necessary, right in front of them.

Oh well, wouldn’t be the first time.

Together, Siphon and Jesi begin to gather some more resources, studiously ignoring the arguing and chatting happening around them. Jesi made themself a crafting table and started working on making tools.

Unlike Crow, they didn’t plan to lose their set.

“Hey Jesi, when you're done with that, do you want to maybe go back to spawn before we head to the mountains?” Siphon asked as Jesi crafted a sword. “I need to grab a couple more things.”

“Yeah, sure!” Jesi said, finishing up their sword. “Just let me grab some seeds and sapling real quick.”

They did so quickly, spotting Sabi and Arctic approaching and knowing based on what little time they were around the group that Sabi + Elliott = trouble.

“Aright, Siphon. Whenever you’re ready?” Jesi said after gathering the seeds and saplings they wanted.

Siphon clapped her hands together. “Okay! To Spawn!” They cheered, walking back the way the two had come.

“To Spawn!” Jesi agreed, following him.

***

They end up near the river. 

Siphon was grabbing at some long green plant–sugarcane, Jesi was pretty sure? “Looking for anything in particular?” They asked.

“Yeah, hang on!” Siphon took off the cape he’d been wearing, placing it neatly folded on the riverbank. “I’m trying to find some ink sacs!” They explained while wandering into the river.

“I’ll start getting some sand, I guess.” Jesi offered, kneeling down. They watched as Siphon drew her own sword–when had he made that? Apparently at some point, maybe before they met.

The two gathered things up in a peaceful silence, beyond the sound of shifting sand or dying squids. Silence, however, is made to be broken.

Sabi came dashing forward, a slightly crazed look in her eyes. “Arctic?? Is Arctic here?!” She asked Jesi, shaking them a little.

“Oh, hey Sabi!” Jesi said, gently stilling the worried girl. “I haven’t seen Arctic.” Sabi nodded and dashed off a little ways a way.

It was about that time that Jesi heard the shriek.

A high pitched noise pierced the air, startling Jesi. “OH SHIT–” Whipping their head towards the sound, they spotted Arctic leaping up, which considering she seemed to have just materialized and quite possibly died, seemed like a bad idea.

Poor Siphon, who had dived under the water to kill another unsuspecting squid, leaped out. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?” He yelled.

“Arctic!!!” Jesi called out, dashing forward, ignoring the sand they hadn’t put in their inventory yet. They pulled a shaking Arctic down into a sitting position, kneeling in front of her. “I’m here, you’re okay now, it’s going to be okay.”

“I DON’T LIKE CAVES. CAVES BAD.” Tell Jesi something they don’t know.

“HELLO???” Siphon asks, having come out of the river completely to figure out what was going on.

“Hewo…” Arctic whimpered, giving a shaky wave.

“Omg are you okay???” Siphon asked. Jesi rubbed small circles into the shaking girl’s back, trying to spy where Sabi went. They did see Bee fast approaching. 

“No…” Arctic answered Siphon, voice breaking. “I DIDN’T THINK THE SNOW WOULD JUST DISAPPEAR!" She yelled, sounding miserable and horrified.

“Omg…” Siphon mumbled, crouching down on the girl’s other side, copying the practiced motion. Jesi finally spotted Sabi approaching.

Bee arrived, tripping as she ran. “WHAT THE FU–ARCTIC ARE YOU OKA–I mean, obviously not but…”

Finally, Sabi arrived. “ARCTIC!!!” She all but screamed, looking on the verge of a panic attack. 

“Sabi’s here now, okay?” Jesi reassured Arctic, which seemed to help a little. Sabi dashed forward and hugged the girl so tight Jesi was a little worried about broken bones. Everybody backed away to make room.

“I didn’t think the snow would just–it fell and then I fell and then the world went black then white then purple–” Arctic mumbled, still shaking. Poor girl. Jesi could say from experiencing the exact same thing: It was not fun. They wondered if Arctic got a headache too.

A headache seemed to be the least of the girl’s problems at the moment.

“Mystarmystarmystar.” Sabi muttered like a mantra, so quick it took Jesi a second to make out what she was saying. “I’m here now, I won’t leave you.”

“I told you–you should’ve–” Bee stuttered, lying down on her back and looking slightly ill. 

“YOU SAID IT WOULD MAKE ME SINK!!! IT FELL!!!” Arctic cried out, voice going alarmingly high pitch–like, Jesi was a bit worried about the girl’s poor throat.

Siphon sat down beside Bee, mumbling something to her. Bee shook her head. “I’m fine. It’s Arctic who just died.” She mumbled back. Turning to Arctic, she went, “WELL IT’S THE SAME THING WITH THAT SNOW, EITHER WAY YOU WOULD’VE DIED!!!”

Jesi glanced at poor Arctic. Just how did she die?

Siphon asked the question before Jesi could, turning to Bee. “Do you know just how she died?”

Bee groaned, rubbing her face. “We were in the mountains.” She began, gesturing behind her to said location. “She was running around in the snow and some of the powdered stuff broke. She fell into some sorta cave, I think.”

“Omg…” Siphon mumbled. Which, all in all, Jesi thought that summed it up pretty well.

Jesi gave Arctic a sympathetic look. “Falling is uh…not fun.” They confirmed.

Thankfully, the overly tight hug seemed to be helping the girl calm down. Siphon nudged Bee. “Okay, uh. Bee? Me and Jesi were going to head towards the mountains…you want to come with us or…?”

“Sure…is Jesi gonna live there?” Bee asked, directing her tired eyes towards them.

“If you don’t mind, Bee?” Jesi asked.

“It’s fine by me!” Bee confirmed, turning to Sabi and Arctic. “You two could come back but uh. It seems you wouldn’t want to after what just happened…”

Sabi finally broke out of the hug. “I’ll go.” She said, glancing at the still trembling girl. “I think Arctic needs some rest, anyway.” That’s one way to put it. 

“Okay…let me grab my cape and then we can head towards the mountain. WITHOUT falling into snow this time.” Siphon said, starting to stand up. “Arctic, hope you feel better…”

“If we come across some animals and anyone has the right food, do we want to try and take them with us?” Jesi asked. 

“I got seeds and apples…that’s about it.” Bee admitted sheepishly. 

“I’ve also got some seeds.” Jesi said. “We’re set for chickens, at least.”

“We could get an egg!” Bee points out, smiling a little. “That’s…good?” Jesi nodded in confirmation.

Everyone stood up. Sabi turned to Arctic, hands on the girl’s shoulders. Jesi realized around then that Arctic was wearing Sabi’s parka–when and why…? Ah, none of their business. “Arctic–I’m going mining now, but I’ll be back soon.”

Nobody said anything about mining, but if Sabi wanted to try her hand at those cursed caves, Jesi wouldn’t stop her.

“Can you be brave for me and stay here for a moment?” Sabi continued. Arctic’s eyes were wide and fearful. “Try to sleep, Starlight, and I’ll be back before you even notice.” Sabi promised.

“I–” Arctic began.

“If you want, we can bring her up with us?” Bee offered. “Should be able to, like, carry her? And she could rest at someone’s base…if that’s alright with you both, of course.”

“I can stand! I am standing!” Arctic pointed out, voice slightly defensive. The other girls talked right over her.

“We could make a temporary base to put her in too.” Sabi suggested. Arctic made a small noise of protest. 

“I–I can’t come with you?” She asked, practically begged. Jesi couldn’t help but wince. Arctic shifted closer to Sabi, and the girl sighed.

“Okay, okay. No leaving, I guess.” Sabi said, toned resigned as she held the twin braided girl close. Which may seem odd, but when Jesi thought about it…

Yeah, if the options were to either have Arctic go to the place she ended up dying in or have Sabi stay with Arctic here? …one option definitely seemed safer than the other.

Siphon approached them, cape back on. “I’m ready.” He said.

Bee nodded. “I think we’ll set off, now?” She turned to the girls. “But come up if you want anytime! Just shout for me and I’ll show you where my base is…” Bee gave Jesi a questioning look.

“I’m ready.” Jesi confirmed. “You gonna be okay there, Arctic?” The girl responded with a giggly salute.

Arctic was mumbling something to Sabi, and Jesi was able to catch some of it. “...I want to be with you, but I don’t wanna stop you from doing stuff…if I can’t come, that’s fine.” Her voice was weak but filled with conviction.

“Well, if you want to come up to the mountains with us, I’ll be heading to my base. We can hang out there.” Siphon, surprisingly enough, piped up with that suggestion. Jesi hadn’t realized she was paying attention, in all honesty.

Bee sighed, beginning to walk away. “Alright, Sabi, Arctic. Bringing you, yes or no?” She asked the two.

“I–” Sabi bit the inside of her cheek. Arctic was watching her like a hawk. Jesi was personally feeling that the tension in the air was slightly unnecessary. “I’m…actually gonna stay here with Arctic–help her if she needs it.”

Jesi watched Arctic’s face fall, could see the guilt on her face. But Arctic said nothing, so neither did they. It wasn’t their place to say anything–if Sabi wanted to stay, that was fine. 

“It’s too dangerous to bring her in the mountains, she can’t protect herself in this state.” Sabi explained. “I’ll stay here and keep her safe.”

Beside them, Jesi heard Siphon grumble, “I can protect her…” Before putting on a bright smile. “That’s okay!” 

Bee sighed, sounding exasperated. “Someone could carry her and we are all perfectly capable of taking care of peo–you know what, never mind. Always happy to have visitors, just…ask Siphon for the way.” With that, Bee begins to head towards the mountains.

“I don’t need to be carried. I AM LITERALLY STANDING!” Poor Arctic shouted, sounding extremely confused. Jesi had to fight off a laugh.

“Sit down.” Sabi countered, dragging the girl down. Jesi turned away to cover their mouth. No laughing, not a peep from them. 

“See you two around!” Jesi called behind them, walking with Siphon as they went after Bee.

***

“Alright…so let’s try not to fall into snow this time.” Siphon suggested as they climbed up the mountain. Bee was sitting on a little cliff edge, looking annoyed. 

“Long drops are also to be avoided.” Jesi agreed. “You alright there, Bee?” They called up to her.

Bee tapped her foot against the snow. “Eh…I guess…” She said with a shrug. Super reassuring, 10/10, Jesi’s never trusted her wellbeing more. “So Jesi, how are you liking it up here so far?”

Jesi scanned the mountains. “It’s a bit cold, what with all the snow and all, but it’s certainly a decent view…I like it up here.” They confirmed. “It feels…calm.”

“Yeah, that’s why I like it.” Bee agreed. “It’s a bit cold but when I find goats or sheep I’ll make myself better clothing.” Jesi hoped she had better sheep luck then they did.

“Speaking of…I just got some wool!” Siphon piped up, showing it off. “Check it out!”

“Oooh, nice!” The other two commented. “It looks so soft…” Bee murmured.

“Yeah, I was thinking of what to do with it all…” Siphon began, before gasping and stumbling. “GAH–”

“Siphon? What happened?” Jesi asked, alarmed by the sudden change. Bee was already jumping down, using her arms to steady him.

“Hey!” Bee asked, tone vocal concern. “Are you okay?”

Siphon looked…out of it. Her eyes had glassed over, and he was trembling ever so slightly. “...okay…” They finally mumbled.

“You good?!” Bee questioned. 

“I think I remembered something…” Siphon began.

“Oh! I hope it was good?” Bee offered, giving Siphon a half–hug.

“Guys?! Are you here?!!” A familiar voice called out. Turning, Jesi spotted Sabi climbing up the mountain.

“Over here, Sabi!” Jesi responded, before turning back to Siphon. “Remembered…?”

“Yeah…” Siphon took a deep breath in. “I came to this place with no memories and–I think–I sometimes get flashes about my past…”

“Last time it happened, I remembered I was a researcher of some sorts.” He added.

“Oh that’s weird…I uh, I came with memories but I blocked most of them out…” Bee explained. Jesi blinked slowly at her, feeling like that was…concerning…

Siphon looks back down at the wool still in their hands. “I think I know what to do with this…”

“Well that’s go–” Bee took a step back, before falling down an almost invisible crevice.

Well, shit.

“Bee?” Siphon rushed forward. Jesi caught them by his cape, stopping her from falling in themself. 

“BEE!” Jesi called down, concerned. Seriously, the caves had to be cursed or something, right?

“Bee!! Are you okay?” Jesi shouted into the crevice. Siphon was struggling to find a way down, and Jesi used what little materials they had to help with their descent.

***

“Bee? Are you alright? Where are you?” Jesi asked, words echoing off the walls of the cavern. It seemed to be some sort of…dripstone cave? Jagged rocks were poking out anywhere and everywhere.

“GUYS!!! ARE YOU HERE???” That was Sabi, somewhere deeper in the cave–looks like she fell too. Wonderful, just…wonderful. 

This was fine.

“I fell down a hole…” Oh, there was Bee!!! “I landed on some sort of ledge, though…” Thank the void. 

“Omg…” Siphon murmured beside Jesi, looking terrified. Which was reasonable, after all, they were in a cave.

“We’re coming down.” Jesi called out.

“Go to where Sabi is!” Bee argues. “It’s not safe this way, anyway!” See, that made Jesi feel like they should focus on Bee.

“Sabi’s down here?” Siphon asked, and in the distance, a loud curse could be heard from the one and only. Jesi couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Sounds like it.” Bee says through a sigh. How could Jesi hear the sigh? They shouldn’t have heard that…listening more closely, they could hear a distant groan, the dripping of water…

…how?

Jesi shakes themself. “Do you need help getting out? I’ve got planks and tools!” They wait, but there’s only silence in response.

And a second, equally loud, “SHIT–” From Sabi. Seemed like she was having a fun time.

Jesi focuses on trying to make a path down to Bee. “Sabi? Bee?” Siphon calls out beside them.

“SHITSHITSHITSHIT–” Yeah, Sabi was having the time of her life right about now.

“Hey guys something seems wrong–” Jesi never would’ve guessed. They sigh and shift to face Siphon.

“I’m gonna keep making a path down to Bee.” They explain, and Siphon nods slowly.

“JUST SHUT UP FOR ONCE–” Oh look, Bee was having a blast too.

God Jesi needed a different joke.

Siphon had managed to make a different pathway down from the cave wall, and Jesi doubled their efforts, frantically trying to get to Bee. 

“SABI WHERE ARE YOU?” Siphon called out. And boy howdy were they lucky that Sabi didn’t respond with an I’m so sorry.

“Jesi I’m fine, worry about Sabi!!!” Bee insisted as another swear, followed by an alarming scream, rang across the cave. 

“Are you su–” Jesi begins. 

“Yes, I’m FINE, Sabi isn’t, just. Go to her!” Bee insists. With a sigh, Jesi begins to change directions.

“GET OFF OF ME YOU HALF DEAD FREAKS–” Well Sabi apparently was hanging out with her friends, how fun. 

Yeah, Jesi needed to let that joke die.

Jesi manages to spy Sabi and Siphon, who was now on the ground, fighting what was quite possibly the biggest hoard of zombies they had ever seen. Seriously, that could not be normal.

“HOLY FUCK–” Siphon exclaimed as he ducked and weaved, trying to reach Sabi, who was stuck in the middle of the hoard.

“I’m on my way, guys!” Jesi shouted down, trying to make a staircase to hop onto the ground at a safer height. They learned their lesson about fall damage.

Jesi manages to get close enough, hitting a nearby zombie with an axe crit. They proceed to switch to their wooden sword, slashing away.

Then–void, Jesi doesn’t even know what happened, but something seemed to snap in Sabi.

One moment, a young woman is stuck in between a bunch of braindead green guys, the next, fluffy gray ears appear, fur starts to sprout, her face becomes that of a mutt–and Sabi is a wolf.

“HOLY FUCKING WHAT–” Yeah that summed it up nicely. 

Jesi puts their sword away. “Wait, what? Uh, okay, that works too! …Sabi?” That was Sabi, right? How did she…well, Jesi supposed they had heard stories of shifting hybrids…

Sabi is tearing apart the zombies now with relative ease, while Siphon is more or less standing there, mouth agape, blinking rapidly. “Oh okay…hey Sabi?” 

He pauses, then says, “WHAT IN THE FUCKING HELL IS THIS????” Which all things considered was a reasonable question.

Sabi locks eyes on Siphon, and for a second alarm bells go off in Jesi’s mind. Old warnings and folktales…but Sabi’s eyes turn back into green, and she–”Siphon.” Oh alright, yes, a talking wolf, this was normal.

Everything was fine.

“...yes?” Siphon questions cautiously.

And then Sabi proceeds to fall unconscious on the floor. This is fine.

“OMG SABI!!!” Siphon rushes over, zombies no longer a threat–it was pretty impressive how fast Sabi dealt with them.

“Woah, Sabi!” Jesi calls out, joining Siphon, checking the girl for injuries. Because she was in fact back to being a girl. 

“Okay, uh…” Siphon begins, lifting Sabi up in a fireman's carry. “We cannot stay here. Jesi, do you have a way out for us?” Well they were gonna need to make one. 

“Yeah, give me a moment.” Jesi says, keeping their voice calm despite the tremble in their hands, building a quick staircase up with a mixture of cobblestone and planks. 

Siphon had shifted to carrying Sabi on her back, which was probably more comfortable. Slowly, Jesi and the two others reach the area in the cave they had come in from.

At the top, Jesi covers the hole they had come in from, as well as the one Bee fell into. Where was Bee, anyway…? Jesi hoped she was okay, they’d have to try and find her later.

“We don’t want a repeat, nor visitors.” Jesi says as they finish up filling in nearby cracks. “At least, not visitors of THAT kind.”

“Yeah…” Siphon says quietly, glancing at Sabi, concerned etched into their features. Jesi didn’t blame him, the unconscious girl appeared to be in rough shape.

“You wanna lead the way to your guy’s shelter?” Jesi suggests. Siphon gives a small nod in response.

“Yeah, I’ll take you to my place.” Siphon says, trotting in what Jesi can only assume is the direction of that. 

This time, the two don’t call out the name of their destination.

***

“Yeah so this is my place…I know it’s not a lot.” Siphon said, almost sheepishly. It was a simple little hole in the wall, although somehow Siphon managed to get a desk in there, where a slightly wet book was lying out.

“It’s more than I’ve got right now.” Jesi said honestly. After all, Jesi quite literally had nothing right now. Well, they had some tools.

Siphon walks over and lays Sabi down on some sort of stone table. He then walks over to a crafting table and suddenly has a bed–which, at this Jesi isn’t that surprised. She then lays Sabi down on the bed.

“Make yourself at home, if you want! I’m gonna stay here, with Sabi…” Siphon explains, voice fading out as they settle down on the ground next to the bed, his eyes fluttering close.

“I have some melons if you're hungry?” Jesi offered up. Siphon shook her head. 

“I’m gonna sleep, I think…don’t get yourself killed.” He murmured. Fair enough.

Jesi stands there for a moment, before walking outside and hollowing out a small space for their own future shelter. They return soon after, sitting on the floor near the bed to rest.

They really wish they had found some sheep.

[enderfoxx-77]

10/10 chapter, congrats on finishing!!!

[arcticfoxpup42]

A Brewing Storm

GUYS I FINALLY DID IT.

NO, IT'S NOT A F-CKIN ASK, BUT I FINALLY GOT CHAPTER 2 OF SOULS LIFE DONE.

I am so happy right now y'all have no idea--

This chapter will be introducing the last 2 members of the cast, bringing us up to 9.

Once again, if people would like to join the fan discord, message me on tumblr and I'll send you the link!!!

I think that's about it...

If anyone thinks this needs any form of CW warnings, let me know please, I am so bad at realizing what should be that--

And with all that said...

Are you ready for a brewing storm?

Ender clutches her shovel close to her chest, staring up at the rain with gritted teeth. After Elliot had dragged her away to the dirt hut, it had started to downpour.

Ender had passed the time digging into the hut, making small spiral designs in the mud. Now, the storm had finally let up into a calm drizzle. Finally, they’d be able to get stuff do–

Suddenly, her vision went black. Well, almost black. Words appeared in front of her, almost too quick to register.

Harvey joined the game.

Everything went back to normal, but before Ender could regain her bearings, another wave of darkness came.

Siphon joined the game.

Then her vision darkened a final time.

Wasabi joined the game.

Dead silence filled spawn. No noise beyond the soft pitter patter of rain. Ender looked up, then immediately looked down as a droplet fell directly into her eye. 

After a moment, the silence broke.

“SABI!” Arctic shrieked. Ender felt a blur of movement next to her. Blinking water out of her eyes, she saw poor Sabi get taken down with a hug. Arctic started mumbling things, far too quick for Ender to understand.

Elliott looked around, doing a head count. “Sabi! And Bee and Arctic and Ender and Crow–no Jesi. Hmm. Hopefully she found shelter?” Ender looked around. They were, in fact, missing Jesi. “Other than that…looks like everyone’s here.”

Ender spotted someone coming from the river, alongside someone hiding by the trees. “Everyone and more, it seems.” She said warily.

“Ender, what–” Elliott began. Ender just gestured to the person by the trees. “Oh. Oh there’s more of us. Fuck.” Elliott raced over. Ender had no intentions to get anywhere near the newcomers.

Bee had also begun to approach the new folks, exchanging a glance with Elliott. Ender couldn’t catch everything the moth girl said, but she was pretty sure she heard the valid question of, “...who the fuck are these people?”

Ender watched the newcomer by the trees hold up his hands in defence. Bee seemed to be accusing him of…something. Ender listened as best as she could.

“Please, I don’t–I need help!” The newcomer was saying. Bee stepped closer, then recoiled back.

“What the fuck. Why–why does it get worse near you? Why–” The rest was lost to Ender. What was going on up there? She didn’t really wanna find out.

She regarded the new people with distrust. There was still another person, approaching them from the river. And it was clear that the one by the trees had done something weird to Bee.

Elliott was calling out to the tree newbie. “Hey! You! Harvey!”

Did Ender want to know why the most suspicious person she ever met just…knew this newcomer’s name? Or was this something that was best left unquestioned. Elliott kind of scared her, to be honest.

The newcomer–Harvey?–stared at Elliott. “You! I…think I knew you.” Which wasn’t too surprising. Ender recalled the way that the names of everyone had come to her so quickly before.

No one even really bothered to introduce themselves–they all just knew. Because of Soulsmake, and maybe some sort of higher power.

So why don’t I recognize you? Ender wondered.

Elliott was grinning, from what Ender could tell. “–knew you, too!” Was all she was able to pick up.

Harvey was shaking his head slowly. “But I don’t…remember you. I think I’m supposed to, but–” Again, that was all Ender could hear. Maybe she should get closer.

She really didn’t want to.

So instead, she turned her focus on the two girls next to her. Arctic was still hugging Sabi tightly, whispering things that were too quick and quiet for Ender to hear. However, Sabi was talking loud enough (and calm enough) that she could make out her side of the conversation.

“Hey, hey, Snowflake. It’s okay, I’m here now.” Right. Ender remembered showing up to the dirt hut to find Arctic hiding in a corner. Sabi hadn’t been in sight. She had apparently gone missing, although no one ever explained how.

She suspected that no one actually knew.

Arctic was now speaking louder, just enough for Ender to hear. “Where did you go? Why did you leave? Sabi…please don’t do that again…” Ender could feel a bit of empathy for the girl.

Sabi gave a questioning look to Ender. “I’m not going anywhere. I never did–what are you talking about?” She asked the other girl. In response, she hugged Sabi tighter.

Ender winced in sync with Sabi. Arctic’s love of physical affection was going to end up killing someone at some point or another, Ender knew it.

Arctic was shakily explaining to Sabi why she was freaking out. At least, Ender assumed that’s what was happening–again, she couldn’t understand a single word the girl was saying.

She assumed that’s what was going on, because Sabi looked at her with wide eyes, mouthing, “I disappeared?" Ender could only shrug in response. She had no clue what had happened to Sabi.

Sabi looked back down at Arctic. “I’m. Sorry.” Her voice sounded stilted, and Ender couldn’t blame her.

Arctic moved away from Sabi, just enough for Ender to catch her next words. “Please don’t do it again. Please.” Ender held back a sigh. From what she could gather, Sabi didn’t have a choice in the matter.

Still, the other girl had the kindness to lie. “I won’t–never again.”

“Um…hello?” A strained voice asked. Ender and Sabi both whipped around to see the stranger from the river. They looked soaked. Ender scrambled away, wanting to put distance between herself and the newcomer.

Sabi, however, frowned. With a glance up at the tree with Harvey, Ender spotted a mischievous light enter her eyes. “Hit ‘em with hammers.” Sabi challenged.

Ender gave her a look. “But I only have a shovel.” She was far from against the idea, but…she quite literally didn’t have any hammers.

Sabi shrugged, still comforting Arctic. (who was refusing to let go of the other girl.) “That works too. Just…hit them with something.” She quipped.

Ender was about to do as told…when the rain relaxed from its light drizzle back to a downpour.

There was a pause…and then everyone freaked out.

Arctic finally let go of Sabi, jumping from side to side. “WET WET WET WET!” She repeated. It was quite comical, at least to Ender.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Sabi groaned.

Bee was shouting, “YOU–Harvey, isn’t it? Why the fuck are you making this happen?” So the newcomer was a sorcerer or something. Honestly, Ender should probably start expecting the unexpected.

“Alright.” Ender muttered. With nothing better to do–and confirmation that Harvey couldn’t be trusted–she dashed forward, raising her shovel…

And missed rather embarrassingly.

She slipped and slid down the mud, falling down into a hole. 

“ENDER!” She heard someone shout.

Followed by Sabi shouting, “Oh. Fuck.”

***

Ender landed flat on her back, rain pelting her from the hole in the cave ceiling. She stayed still for a moment, before slowly sitting up. The first thing she spotted was Arctic and Sabi, both of which were climbing down into the cave with ease.

Show-offs. Ender thought to herself.

Arctic made it down first. “Ender? You okey?” Her whole body seemed to tense at her surroundings. “We–this place–”

“Dude, you okay?” Sabi interrupted. 

Ender tested her limbs, and had to fight back a pathetic sound when pain shot up her left leg. “Not really. But you should probably get back out.” She spoke slowly.

Unwanted memories flooded her.

Gripping the mud. I need to get out–

Out–

OUT–

Crying out, “PLEASE–SOMEONE–”

Tears falling down her face. “I–I need–”

Falling.

She’s falling.

Where are they? 

They said–they said they would–

They PROMISED that–

“Do you need help? Uppies?” Arctic asked, approaching Ender and breaking her out of her head.

Ender shook her head, attempting to stand…and promptly slipping back down. Stupid rain. She thought.

She needed stability. She needed something to stop the bad thoughts–the memories still hiding at the corner of her vision. She needed–

“Have you guys seen my shovel?” She asked, looking around wildly. 

“Not really. I did see your fall of the century. You fumbled hard there, Ender!” Sabi teased with a wicked grin.

Ender sighed. “Yeah, so hard that only you two actually noticed.” She attempted to stand up again, still looking for her shovel.

Arctic was looking at her like she’s lost it–which, considering some of Arctic’s behavior, was uncalled for. “Ender, be careful. This place is no good. We should all lea-”

“You don’t understand. I need that shovel.” Ender insisted, trying to stop the waves of panic. 

“This place is huge!” Sabi was exclaiming, flat out ignoring Ender. “I can’t remember the last time I was in a cave!”

Ender muttered something about death–if it sounded like she had said the name ‘Sabi’, it was definitely just the wind.

Arctic was looking between Sabi and Ender, shaking slightly. “I ca–I can probably find it. Um.” Ender followed the girl’s gaze down to her hand, watching as an odd tremor seemed to go through her body.

“You sure?” Ender asked. Arctic nodded slowly.

“I can find it, yeah! I’m good at finding things!” She said, sounding more confident. Ender couldn’t help but be wary. That confidence could easily be fake.

“How?” Sabi asked, folding her arms across her chest. “You’ve got some kind of super smell or something?”

Arctic just grinned.

Ender was confused, but that was apparently answer enough for Sabi. “Ah.” She said, giving a nod of approval, laughing a little. “Clever Fox, you keep surprising me.”

Fox? Ender wondered, eyeing Arctic curiously. Her personality didn’t seem like something that would warrant that nickname, but she also didn’t have any fox-like features that Ender could see.

Then Ender watched, amazed, as she was proven very wrong. She watched as the girl’s friendly blue eyes darkened to soulless black ones. Her ears morphed to fluffy white fox ones, sitting proudly at the top of her head. And her nose turned into a black, twitching fox nose.

Ender’s jaw dropped. She had heard of hybrids who could switch their features, obviously, but she had never believed the stories to be true. 

It was incredible…if not a little unnerving.

“Oh my god.” Sabi breathed, eyes lit up with wonder. Which summed it up just as well.

Ender fidgeted, not entirely sure what to do with her hands. “I can’t go all the way.” Arctic explained, sounding apologetic. “Because I can’t shift injured parts. And it makes me sleepy.”

She watched as the hybrid girl jerked her head unnaturally. Her nose twitched, and her chest rose and fell with a pattern that suggested deep breaths.

Ender continued to fidget, worrying herself into a panic. She didn’t even register Sabi talking to her until the other girl put her hand on her shoulder.

“It’ll be alright, we’ll find it.” Sabi reassured her. “It may not even be that far off.”

Well, now she felt a bit bad about wishing death upon the other girl. “I hope so.” Ender replied, squeezing as much gratitude as she could into her voice.

Just then, Elliott stepped in from above, looking down at them. “Hey everyone…Crow and I were thinking we should get everyone back to spawn–the storm seems to be getting worse.”

A moment of silence, and then Elliott added, “Also this cave? Makes me…uneasy. I don’t trust you lot to be in here alone.” And yet he slid down into it as he spoke.

“The cave is very bad!!” Arctic agreed from somewhere a little bit deeper inside.

“Not until I have my shovel back!” Ender insisted. She needed it, it was the only thing she had. The only thing that reminded her of–

No. She couldn’t go there, but she did need her shovel.

“Can’t…we just make a new one?” Elliott asked, blinking rapidly at her. Like she was crazy, which she couldn’t tell if she should agree with that or be offended.

She couldn’t replace her shovel. Not when her shovel was somewhere around here, not when she needed it. It wouldn’t be the same, it never would be, she needed it. She needed it, she needed it, she needed it, she needed her, she needed it, she–

“That’s a thing of value, not a tool to replace, dumb shit.” Sabi snarled in Ender’s defence. Ender was grateful, but was also reminded to not get on Sabi’s bad side.

Elliott narrowed his eyes. “No…no, not today.” He says with a roll of his eyes. He looked tense, like he was struggling to keep himself in check.

Good to know to also not get on Elliott’s bad side.

“I have it!” Arctic suddenly blurted out. Ender turned. Arctic was staring at Sabi with wide eyes, looking like her normal self. She was also waving Ender’s shovel.

Ender perked up. “Thank you so much!!!!” She says, taking the shovel carefully from Arctic. She watched as Sabi walked over and started to murmur something to Arctic, the two talking like they were in their own world.

She sighed, staring at her shovel. Holding it close to her chest, she said, “We’ll all be okay now.” And she meant it. Now that she had her ba–her shovel back, it would all be fine.

“We can leave?” Arctic asked, eyeing a seemingly random tunnel hopefully.

Elliott sighed. “Well, Ender got her shovel back, so yes, can we please get out of here? For everyone’s safety.” The last part seemed to be tacked on, almost carelessly.

“Is there a better way out then the hole I fell through?” Ender asked, glancing nervously at the gap. Arctic nodded rapidly, looking…very uneasy.

“Fine–this place gives me the creeps, anyway.” Sabi muttered. She then grabbed a now trembling Arctic’s hand. “Let’s go no–OOOW.” Her voice tilted up as Arctic bolted out of the cave, dragging Sabi along.

Elliott grabbed Ender’s own hand, following the speedy girl who seemed to know the way out. Ender gripped it tightly, with her other hand gripping on to her beloved shovel.

***

Ender stumbled out of the cave, feeling shaky. Her injured leg did not appreciate the chase behind Arctic, Sabi, and Elliott.

“Are you both okey?” Arctic asked, whipping her head to Ender and Sabi, who was splayed out on the ground.

“I’m fine, Snowflake!” Sabi said, muffled a little. Ender watched her give a weak thumbs up as she shifted to a sitting position. 

The twin-braided girl then whipped her head around to Ender. “You okey???” She asked, scanning Ender for what she could only assume was injuries.

“I’m fine, just tripped.” Ender explained. 

Doing a quick survey, Ender realized Crow was in a tree, chatting with Elliott. Nobody else seemed to be around, which thankfully included the new people. However…it was still down pouring.

Arctic was still staring at her, so she added, “It’s really nothing compared to actually falling into the cave.” Which was apparently the wrong thing to say.

“Sure? Are you sure? What about cave? Did cave hurt you?” Arctic asked, rapid fire.

Ender released a shaky breath. “Not sure.” She admitted. One look at Arctic and she knew she made a mistake.

Her eyes widened, and she visibly paled. “Okey. Okey.” She began to pat Ender down, searching for injuries at an alarmingly quick rate. “Okey. Okey”. She continued to repeat as she checked for injuries. “Okey. Okey. It's okey. Okey.”

Ender tried her best to appear as uninjured as possible…she probably wasn’t succeeding, but she was trying!

“Guys, we cannot stay here.” Sabi said, standing up. “We need to get somewhere safer, especially with this storm.”

Elliott nodded. “What Sabi said! It’s dangerous.”

Sabi whispered something that sounded a lot like, “Oh damn, we agree on something for once.” And Elliott narrowed his eyes. 

Sabi merely tossed him an innocent expression in response…and Ender was very unsure on what to do with this tension.

She decided to follow Crow and Arctic’s lead, as the two were both studiously ignoring it. “You don’t feel hurt?” Arctic asked, still looking worried. Luckily it seemed Ender’s uninjured strategy was working, because the other girl seemed a bit more relaxed.

“Not majorly…maybe just a few small bruises…I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me.” Ender claimed, ignoring the pain in her leg that was reminding her that she was lying.

Arctic was still as a statue for a second, before giving in and backing off. But the girl was still keeping a surprisingly careful eye on Ender. Ender just smiled, hoping to ward off the worry.

The twin braid girl whispered, just barely loud enough for Ender and maybe Crow to hear. “No one gets hurt. No hurt, then happy. No hurt means happy.” 

Before Ender could ask what that was about, Sabi spoke up. “Anyway! I’m gonna look around for a place to stay. If anyone wants to join me, be my guest, but I do not plan to die wet as hell.”

Arctic seemed to perk up at that, and Sabi noticed, ruffling the girl’s hair. “Wanna go with me, I suppose?” She asked with a smirk.

Elliott waved to get the group’s attention, distracting Ender from the other girls’ conversation. “Sabi’s right. I know y’all hate me for some fuckin reason–” 

Hate was a strong word…wary would be more accurate, at least for Ender. “–but it’s pouring out here. Anyone have anything we could use to build.”

Ender shrugged. “My only worldly possession is a shovel.”

She heard a snort and then the sound of a snapping branch. Whipping around, Crow seemed to have fallen out of his tree, somehow managing to land on his feet.

Hypocritically, Ender scolded him. “Crow, be careful!” 

Arctic gave her a Are You Kidding Me? Look that was…warrented, she had to admit. She dutifully avoided eye contact.

Luckily, before Ender could be (rightfully) called out…it started to absolutely downpour. As in, Ender was instantly soaked, and she could barely see anything. She shivered, folding in on herself.

Someone who she could only assume was Arctic let out a high-pitched shriek. “WET WET WET WET.” Yep, that was Arctic.

Blinking water out of her eyes, she spotted Arctic dashing in a circle around Sabi. She then watched Sabi take off her parka and toss it at Arctic, stopping the girl in her tracks.

Crow grumbled beside her, trying to shake water off his wings to no avail. “Where are we going?” He asked, voice nearly a shout to be heard over the rain.

“To find shelter!” Sabi called back, walking off. “Come on, people!” Arctic dashed after her.

She heard Elliott mumble something next to her. “And of course, Sabi actually gets everyone to do it.” She fixed him with what she knew was probably an unreadable expression.

That’s not fair, only Arctic followed her. And it’s ARCTIC, for void’s sake! Of course she’d follow Sabi. Ender thought. Out loud, she went, “You know…not everyone here despises you.” 

With that, she turned around to follow the two girls. 

***

Ender approached the group in the plains. Elliott and Crow had somehow beaten her there. Then again, she’d been very slow, her injured leg causing some major issues. 

The first thing she spotted was Sabi stepping in front of Arctic, practically growling at Elliott, fixing him with the stare of a protective wild animal. 

So, she didn’t see anything necessarily new or surprising.

As she got closer, Arctic spotted her. Her blue eyes darkened, and Ender couldn’t help but feel like prey to a predator–except the predator in question was trying to kill her with kindness.

“I have quite a bit–and I think Crow does too.” Elliott was saying. What he was referring to, Ender had no idea.

“I think I still have mine.” Sabi said. She got a focused expression on her face. “Come on you stupid–aha!” A few bits of wood appeared in her hand.

“Okay…between the three of us, that should be enough. I think.” Elliott said, taking out his own pieces of wood.

Ender’s leg was becoming too much for her, so she tried to subtly shift her weight onto her shovel. The fact that Arctic narrowed her eyes at her made Ender think she probably wasn’t subtle.

Still, she tried her best to be nonchalant, avoiding eye contact. Which…probably did not help her be nonchalant.

Crow, Elliott, and Sabi had all begun building, but Sabi looked up, eyes flickering between the two girls’ stand off. “Princesses, you're both adorable. Can you please lock the fuck in and help?”

Startled by Sabi’s remark, she loses her balance and falls face first into the mud. She quickly sits up, rubbing her face. Thankfully, the rain helped wash the mud off faster, allowing her to see the situation at hand.

Arctic had come over to her, Sabi seemed to have quickly gotten distracted, and Crow and Elliott were talking in the background. She wasn’t sure if she had actually seen Elliott smile before, but he was beaming at Crow.

“Ender…” Arctic trailed off, snapping Ender’s attention to her. “I–I don’t think your okey.”

“Hah…you know what, maybe not.” Ender agreed begrudgingly. And watched in real time as all logic seemed to leave Arctic’s head.

Seemingly going into full-blown panic mode, the girl crouched down, shifting erratically. Ender allowed the search for injuries. She couldn’t help but feel a bit shy. She wasn’t really used to people touching her.

Arctic switches from growling to speaking, shifting back and forth at an alarming rate. She seemed to be muttering on auto-pilot. “Hurt not happy. Hurt not happy. Hurt not happy.”

Fear washes over Ender as Arctic’s shifting hand brushes over her injured leg. She recoils on instinct. Arctic stiffened.

Meanwhile, Elliott, Crow, and Sabi had managed to get some work done on a hut. However, Sabi was crouched, seemingly in pain. 

“Um…is Sabi–” Was all Ender got the chance to say before Arctic whipped around and shot off like a rocket.

“SABI!” Arctic was crouched down beside the other girl. “ELLIOTT, CROW!!! HELP!” She says, grabbing the boys’ attention.

Elliott races over, while Crow says something and races off somewhere else. The wind howls too loudly for Ender to make out most of the conversation, but she can see Elliott holding an apple. 

And she certainly hears Arctic screech, “FROM WHAT??” At the top of her lungs.

She suddenly realizes she doesn’t have her shovel. She looks around wildly, then breathes a sigh of relief when she spots it close by. She grabs it before it can sink too far in the mud.

Bee’s walked over at some point, coming from who knows where. Again, the wind makes hearing what’s happening impossible…although she’s pretty sure Elliott had brought out a knife.

From what she could tell, Sabi had been hungry. Crow had wandered off, Sabi seemed to be doing okay, and Elliott and Bee were talking.

Which, if Ender had the strength to move, she’d probably would’ve headed over by now to try and stop the inevitable verbal blood bath between the two of them.

Arctic turns back to Ender, looking embarrassed–maybe even ashamed? Confused, she gives the girl a reassuring smile.

And watches as Arctic pales and seemingly shrinks. After a moment, she does return a weak smile, but Ender is certainly confused. She figures the girl is just stressed and lets it be.

Finally, Ender manages to shift herself up, dragging herself over to the rest of the group. The first thing she hears is Bee saying, “I’ll probably go…I was just here to–” She cuts off. “Uuuuh, bye guys, good luck?”

Fear floods Ender. “Where are you going?” She demands. 

“Back to Siphon and our shelter?” Bee explains, sounding confused. WHO IS SIPHON??? Ender wonders. Probably the other newcomer. 

Ender relaxed a bit. Just a bit. “...okay.” She remarks warily. Sabi and Elliott were having some sort of stand off, but Sabi’s head whipped up at Bee’s explanation.

“Shelter? YOU’VE HAD A SHELTER???” Sabi shouted. 

Bee winced. “B-barely…it’s just half built walls under a ledge, plus it’s pretty far so it’s not like I could tell anyone…”

“OH FOR–shit.” Sabi says, whatever she was about to say cut off as she banged her head on the wooden wall.

“I’m not even going to stay there! I want to go further up! Somewhere a bit more…away…” Bee’s voice wavered at the double death glare Ender and Sabi were giving her. Ender’s probably seemed pathetic, but Sabi was terrifying when she wanted to be.

“Why, our joyful party is too happy for you?” Sabi asked dryly, venom underlaying her tone. Bee flinched.

See? Terrifying. 

“Look.” Bee said, sounding a little annoyed. “If you really want to come to the tiny dark mountain shit hole then be my guest, but you guys seem to be building your own base.” She tapped on the wall.

“Her name is Gertrude the Stormceaser.” Sabi responded, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Bee scoffed. “Goodbye, good luck.” The moth hybrid said, before stalking off, seemingly talking to herself.

Ender had watched the back and forth, but had finally grown tired of standing around. “I need to be useful.” She muttered, walking up to a nearby tree and starting to punch it.

When the first log breaks, falling to the floor, her swings grow more wild. Her hands ache with the effort, knuckles starting to turn red and bleeding.

When the last log falls down, bonking her on the head, she gathers them all up and goes to Elliott, who had finished up all the walls and roof, now seemingly working on a floor.

“Thnaks Ender, wanna help me out?” Elliott asked, accepting the wood easily. Ender nodded.

“I felt like I was just sitting around doing nothing.” She admits.

“Okay! You can probably make a door or something? Keep us safe, you know?” Was that not…the point of the entire shelter? No matter, something to do was something to do.

“Right, I can do that!” Ender agreed, stepping back and analyzing the structure, trying to figure out where to put an entrance.

“How’s the shelter going?” Sabi asked, managing to stumble up into a standing position while grabbing her planks that had fallen when she did.

“Well…I’m half way done with the floor.” Elliott explained. “But I think I’ll put a pause in that to try and grab coal for torches.”

“I’ll take care of the floor, then.” Sabi said, stepping inside. Leaving Ender alone to figure out an entrance.

Oh. Wait. She should probably have it be where the hole in the wall facing the river was, shouldn’t she?

As Ender struggled to figure out how to make a door (while ignoring the pain in her left leg) Elliott and Sabi seemed to be, by some miracle, getting along. She didn’t hear any arguing inside, at least.

After exhausting all her brain power, Ender figures it out. She installs the door with surprising ease, and then stumbles in, collapsing for a nap.

No no no no no no no no no no it wasn’t me it was them I swear–

“We can’t just let Them control us like that!”

“Well they do, and as far as I know there’s no way out.”

“Has anyone ever tried, though?”

She relaxes when she realizes it’s just Sabi and Elliott…fighting. What a shocker.

“Hey Ender, how was your nap?” Elliott asks, although his eyes never shift from Sabi. Void, what was it now?

“Not nearly long enough.” She mutters to herself. “What are we arg–talking about right now?”

“Coming up with a plan on how to get out of here without dying.” Sabi explained. Elliott scoffed. 

“Not dying would be nice…” Ender agreed.

Sabi snorted. “Pfft, yeah, that’s one way to put it.”

“You know what happened to the last person who tried to escape?” Elliott snarled, trembling a bit with what seemed to be rage. “They’re never coming back…luckily.” Ender didn’t miss that last part.

If Sabi heard it, she flat out ignored it. “There has to be another way–a hole in the rules. There always is.” Ender was feeling a bit out of her depth here.

Especially since neither of them seemed to be questioning how the other had this kind of information–did people just know this stuff????

Well, when you’ve been locked away for void knows how long…

Quietly, Ender said, “I don’t want to die just yet…”

Elliott heaved a sigh. “None of us do, but it is in fact inevitable.”

“That’s why I said not yet.” Ender whispered, although nobody else seemed to hear her.

“It’s not our fate, it’s not set in stone.” Sabi insisted.

“How can you be so sure?” Elliott countered.

“I can’t–but that doesn’t mean I can’t hope.” Sabi said, voice hard with determination.

“Optimistic, much?” Elliott asked, sounding annoyed.

Ender’s eyes wandered to her shovel. “Optimism might be foolish…but it’s better than losing hope.” She said, knowing her words would fall on deaf ears. She just gripped her shovel tighter.

Elliott sighed, eyes closed, rubbing his temple like he had a headache. Sabi was staring daggers at him. “You know what? I’m just gonna make some dinner or something. Do whatever you want, I don’t care.”

Sabi let out her own sigh, running a shaking hand through her hair. “Whatever you say, Elliott.” She muttered, so quiet Ender barely heard her.

Sabi settles down close to Ender, curling up into a tight ball. It doesn’t take long before her breaths fall into a slow, sleeping pattern. 

Ender brings herself to her feet, needing a breather. Her left leg nearly gave out on her, but she used her shovel to steady herself. She walked off in the direction of spawn.

***

She’s careful on the muddy terrain, already missing the roof over her head when faced with the onslaught of rain. But she can’t go back quite yet.

Hold on for your life–

Ender sucks in a sharp breath. She pushes the memories aside, trying her best to be in the moment.

Her injuries have become more demanding of her attention, to the point her shovel has become a walking stick. She looks up at the sky, closing her eyes against the downpour.

The water attacks her senses, falling down her face, down her throat, going up her nose. Her eyes itch to open, to get away from the wet massacre, but she doesn’t move. 

She wants to feel it. It’s been so long since she felt it.

Hold on for your life–

She takes a deep breath.

Ender, whatever you do, don’t let go–

Another, this one more difficult.

I’ve got you, just hang on–

She takes another, starting to tremble. She can barely breathe now.

HOLD ON TO THE–

A clank rings off, and Ender opens her eyes, whipping her head around.

The shovel.

Her shovel.

It’d fallen to the ground. 

But she was here. It was fine. For now. 

Looking around now, she realized just how dark it had gotten…and just how cold she was. Her legs felt like jelly, her fists were bloody and sore…and she could barely think, she was so tired.

Shakily, she crouched down, picking up the shovel. Even just that simple movement was nearly too much for her.

It was gonna be a long trip back.

***

She finally makes it to the shelter, practically launching herself into it. Elliott is there, doing who knows what. She’s too tired to care.

She crashes next to Sabi, almost immediately being dragged down by sleep.

“Oh, hi Ender–oop.” She distantly hears Elliott laugh. “Sleepy time now. Good idea.”

[enderfoxx-77]

Amazing, wonderful, fantastic. I’ll say it again Arctic — you’ve really done her justice

[enderfoxx-77]

Ah shit, ya' found me /aff

Hehe. I happened to stumble on an ask you sent to Bee

[enderfoxx-77]

Decided to write a scene from the Soul Life RP me and eight amazing people are doing on discord!

Most of the writing for our rp is being done by @arcticfoxpup42, this is a bonus scene from session one from my character’s POV. Live reacts appreciated, but by no means required <3

The Figure in the Forest:

The forest creaks and groans with every short gust of wind, branches swaying like arms. Roots plummet into the earth as if they'd rather be buried beneath soil than have to stay exposed to the eeriness in the air. Despite the abundance of trees, there are seemingly no animals around at all, and in fact many of the plants look to be either dead or dying.

Ender is practically sprinting as she enters, huffing for each breath, and yet even while cursing her lack of physical fitness she notices something off about the place. Truthfully, she didn't want to be here in the first place, but she deemed it foolish to let one of the strangers she's been summoned here with — Bee, she thinks their name is — go off by herself. This world is new to all of them, and until they determine a base level of safety it seems better to stick in groups.

She's relieved, then, when she manages to catch up to Bee, who rummages around looking for any sort of food source, all whilst mumbling to herself.

"This forest is creepy," Ender proclaims, spitting out loud almost as if she were intending for the forest to hear her insult.

"It is…" The other girl quietly says, "It feels like something is watching us."

Bee continues wandering around, pausing as something catches her eye up in the tree, "Is that an apple up there?"

She lifts her foot onto one of the higher roots and reaches for a low branch, having limited success.

"This whole world is creepy," Ender continues monologuing before noticing Bee's attempts to climb, "—Wait, be careful, don't fall."

Out of nowhere, a flash of purple suddenly appears in the corner of her vision, distracting her attention away from Bee's questionable climbing technique. It takes the form of an eye, bright enough to dazzle her into a squint, and before she can readjust her gaze to focus on it, the eye blinks out of sight.

"Did you see that?!" Ender, seriously spooked by the encounter, looks to Bee for reassurance.

"See what?" She stumbles, sliding down the bark and longingly staring at the apple still stuck in the tree, before turning to properly face Ender.

"There was…" She hesitates, struggling to describe it properly, "Like, a flash of light?"

Bee blinks, perplexed, "No?"

"It looked freaky… You didn't see it?" Now majorly unnerved, Ender keeps spinning and glancing around the trees, "I really, really don't like this place…"

"I just saw this stupid tree not letting me climb it," Bee grimaces, beginning to punch at the bark, muttering, "Why won't you— WHAT?!"

A section of the tree crumbles from the trunk and falls into Bee's hands. They take a step back, gaping.

Still distracted by her paranoia, Ender only hears the sound of the bark breaking away, chuckling, "Damn, must be rotten."

"B-but the rest of it is FLOATING," Bee exclaims, bordering on a shout.

"Wha—" She swivels around, eyes widening at the scene before her, "WOAH."

Just at that moment, Ender hears the sound of footsteps approaching and wanders a few steps back towards the forest's entrance, where she's suddenly met with another of the strangers — Jesi, the name suddenly comes to her — who smiles, unaware of the bizarreness they've walked into.

"Hey folks, how's it going in here?" Jesi asks before starting to scan around for seeds and berries to forage. Bee observes her for a second, then stands on her tiptoes and jumping for a branch of the floating tree. An apple drops to the ground, and Bee snatches it up.

Ender narrows her eyes and pricks her ears, "Did you see anything on your way in?"

"I'm going back to the others," Bee tells them both, "This is…too weird."

As they begin trudging back towards spawn, Bee offers back one last glance, "Good luck."

An uneasy silence washes through the trees as Ender and Jesi take a look at each other, trying to decide what to do before Jesi resumes her foraging.

Meanwhile, Ender hovers over her, trying to watch the shadows. From where's she's standing, she can just about see the group of people conversing at spawn, except… It shouldn't be possible, but they almost look further away than the distance Ender had ran. She tries to dismiss that thought by reasoning that her running made the distance seem shorter, but she can't fully shake the feeling of unease.

Jesi considers Ender's previous question of whether she saw anything strange upon entering the forest, "…I don't think so? This whole place is odd, but nothing seemed out of place…"

"Hm… If anything that's more suspicious," Ender refuses to put down her guard.

"I'm trying to get the start of a farm going," They offer a distraction to her, "Do you want to help?"

"Sure," She shrugs, pausing, "But I'm not going to let go of how strange everything here is."

"Oh absolutely not," Jesi laughs, offering some reasoning, "But if we're here for a while, we're gonna wanna eat."

Ender hesitates before exhaling, "I don't like it, but that's true."

Jesi's hands settle on some berries, picking them off the bush and holding them up in Ender's direction, "These look edible."

Ender takes the berries, examining each one closely, "I suppose… What if they're poison though?"

"It's certainly possible, hmm," They take a second to look around the area, suddenly pausing, "Uh… Is that tree…floating?"

"Yeah…" Ender looks back at the floating tree, "I don't know why but it just did that when Bee punched it?"

Jesi blinks rapidly, bewildered, "Huh."

"Yeah this forest is creepy," She remarks, "I also saw a strange purple light. Looked almost like an oval…or an eye…"

"Because that's not freaky at all…" Jesi lengthens the final word as she speaks.

Ender continues to look around, hoping to catch another glimpse of the strange floating eye.

Turning back to the tree, Jesi runs her fingers over the exposed middle of the trunk, thinking aloud, "So Bee just…punched a tree a few times and knocked a section loose?"

"Yeah…" Ender shrugs.

"…Will it happen again?" Jesi starts to punch the floating tree just above where Bee took the first piece out.

Before they have a chance to test that theory, the whole forest becomes even quieter and the breeze stops suddenly. Beyond the floating tree is a figure cloaked in shadow, standing just a few metres away, evoking a massive feeling of unease from the two players. It looks suspiciously familiar…

Jesi freezes mid-punch and stares the figure down. Ender's eyes widen; she verbalises, "Do you see that?"

"Yeeeeuuuup," Jesi responds, trying to get the figure's attention, "Uh…hello?"

"Okay good, I'm not going crazy," She breathes a sigh of relief, before reconsidering, "Although maybe that would be preferable in the current situation."

She suddenly notices Jesi cautiously approaching the figure, and calls out, "Wait, don't interact, it could be dangerous!"

The figure tilts its head and raises its hand. It looks like it's about to wave but is somehow stopped…

It turns, and walks behind a tree, disappearing out of sight.

Ender turns to Jesi, "So are we running or are we running?"

Jesi inhales, "Heading back to the group sounds like a plan, yep, totally not running away from the freaky forest…"

"Okay, let's go!" Ender says with urgency, grabbing Jesi by the wrist and starting to sprint away.

As Ender drags her, Jesi stumbles slightly before running alongside. They leave the forest, again noting that it is significantly further from spawn than it was upon entry. Running faster than Ender's lungs appreciate, they begin to see the group of people at spawn pointing at them and shouting.

She doesn't notice, far too occupied with running and fearing for her life, but as Ender crosses the threshold of the forest, a folded up piece of paper slips from her pocket and slowly flutters to the ground…

[howmanyholesinswisscheese]

congrats buddy that’s the worst anyone’s ever done it

[vizvyn]

The guysssss

[enderfoxx-77]

How many words can I make with the letter of your name? With all of them being reasons I admire and care about you?

Endearing. Watching you and that goddamn shovel of yours is adorable, and you are so creative and hilarious in that sense.

Deamenor. You have a kind, bubbling deamenor and energy that just makes it feel like I can be friends with you!!

Deranged. You are insane in the best way. You have a sort of humor that can catch me off guard, and I love it!!!!

I feel terrible because I don't know you as well, so I'm absolutely doing an updated version once I do, but for now just know that you are incredible and I admire and care about you.

Love you, Ender!!!!

Oh Arctic this is so sweet! I can’t wait to get to know you more too

In return for all those lovely words, I’ll tell you one thing I admire about you — your energy. I don’t know how you do it but you’re always energetic and confident in a way I feel like I could never be.

Also gotta say, thanks for writing soul life. As a writer myself, I can’t imagine how horrible it must be to turn our silly, slightly deranged at times rp into an actual proper story, but you do it justice so well <3

[art3rnis]

WIP of impulse!! I don’t know what to do for his page like at all, but I’m really proud of the drawings. Figured I’d share them before I potentially ruin them with a bad background

[dailyimpulsedoodles]

May I request an Impulse with Skizz?? Your doodles are so cute btw keep it up <3

-Kaeya

[343]

Spin!

[enderfoxx-77]

http://archiveofourown.org/works/66075184

Day Thirty-One - Etho:

This city’s got a lot of secrets, and just as many people trying to uncover them…

—

Well, that’s a wrap on hermit-a-day may! Thanks to @hermitadaymay for organising this challenge, it’s been so fun to partake in, and check out their fundraiser if you haven’t already!

(Also, psst, if anyone has been seeing these ficlets without knowing the context of the main fic the world was built around or really wants to know how the theatre arc ends, then check it out )

[enderfoxx-77]

http://archiveofourown.org/works/66043324

Day Thirty - Doc:

Sometimes, the best solution to a problem is to seek an outside perspective.

[enderfoxx-77]

http://archiveofourown.org/works/66015064

Day Twenty-Nine - Skizz:

The night before Skizz and Impulse have their first ever date, both are kept awake by feelings of nervousness.

Luckily, they have each other to depend on.

[enderfoxx-77]

http://archiveofourown.org/works/66015064

Day Twenty-Nine - Skizz:

The night before Skizz and Impulse have their first ever date, both are kept awake by feelings of nervousness.

Luckily, they have each other to depend on.

[enderfoxx-77]

http://archiveofourown.org/works/65985379

Day Twenty-Eight - Friends of HC (Jimmy+Lizzie):

A pair of siblings catch up on the goings on of their lives.