Any updates about the returning hermits and their powers ?
Given Etho’s early season 7 episodes surrounding his ice farm, he has been changed from having fire elemental powers (iirc) to ice! He’s the Alolan Ninetails of the server
At first, there was a nether star, resting in his palm, giving off a comforting coolness.
And then - there was fire- no, not fire, electricity running through him, shattering, forcing itself through, tearing, causing pain so strong that he almost couldn’t feel it, his senses shutting down—
The sentence “I’m going to die” was ringing in his head, and it was terrifying because, in the world of respawn, he’s never been as scared of death, while also being amazed by it at the same time.
A gasp found its way out his mouth when Xisuma opened his eyes, only to be welcomed by darkness. The unbelievably overwhelming kind of it, the type that presses at you from every direction— it was threatening to gush in and fill his lungs if he dared to breathe in a little bit more air than necessary.
Did I go blind?... the time traveler wondered, slowly getting up from the bed— there was no bed. I didn’t respawn, X whispered to himself in shock and looked down. He could clearly see his own body but wasn’t exactly relieved by the discovery, because it meant that even though he still had vision, his location was the middle of nowhere, literally.
The Brit forced himself to take a few generous breaths, ignoring the fact that in one moment air felt like a liquid, and in another, was dry and almost non-existent. After calming down, he started to notice more details. For example, the surroundings weren’t as bland as they seemed to be. As he looked around, everything around him… Shifted, changed, even though at first glance, the only thing around was emptiness. But the more you started, the more you could see. There were lights, distant, some paler than others, some flickering, he even found some that simply died out and refused to show up again, no matter how long he kept his eyes in one spot.
And then… there was the moon.
The almost-full moon was over him, there was light coming from it, but there was barely enough light to see.
Xisuma was completely alone, or at least that's what he thought at first. Then though, he felt a presence. It was well known to him, and brit's first reflex was to let out a deep exhale of relief, but instead, he froze. X's mind brutally reminded him of what Time did to Z. What if the element did not approve of an act of his, and decided to abandon him right now, in this empty place? What if it didn't want him anymore? What if—
He flinched violently when an invisible hand gripped his shoulder, at first glance in a calming manner, but a little too tight for comfort. Then, a voice, an electrifying voice, cut through the void with a force comparable to the one of a lightning. Hearing it almost felt like dying all over again.
Don't panic.
It said, and even in the hazy state of amazement, X found himself nodding. He swallowed loudly and forced his body to relax, simply waiting for Time to do whatever they wanted to do by bringing the Brit into the void.
Then-
Then Xisuma noticed a silhouette, somehow even darker than the darkness around him, like nothing he's ever seen before, like a black hole, swallowing all of the light, the light of his soul, not letting it out, and it glanced right at him, and-
And it was gone.
He looked around again, just to make sure that it was really gone, and not just— I dunno, teleported or something.
Not trusting his voice, X waited a few long seconds before asking: "What was that?" he said, and after a moment, continued: "What is happening?". Time, however, ignored his questions and answered in their own way.
For now, calm down and wait. There's nothing we can do from here.
The Brit had enough waiting, though. He had no idea what was happening and was getting more and more frustrated with every minute passing. "Explain," he pressured, but after a horrifyingly long moment of silence, added: "Please."
There is nothing I can do. Another time user has decided that he wants to enter your world and forced its way in by sending you here, Having two time wielders is not something I nor you want to experience. We can only wait.
Xisuma shut himself up, it seems like listening to his element would be for the best.
That night, he remembered seeing the moon hiding behind the none existing clouds in the void.
*****
The sky was overcast.
The stars occasionally peaked through the ocean of clouds, Z was brushing Boo’s fur, like usual. It didn’t matter that the stars weren’t there, the night was beautiful either way. It was calming, with the soft, natural breeze of wind that occurred whenever the wind wielder wasn’t on the server. The summer night was probably the Brit's favorite time of the year, just because of the warm atmosphere and cozy nights.
Boo was quietly asleep, snoozing away after he fed her dinner. Z sighed, it has been oddly peaceful lately. None of his nightmares were haunting him in his sleep and now finds comfort in sleeping away his days with his cat. He never thought that he would ever find this kind of peace with himself, his past far behind him on the train tracks—
A chill ran through him.
Someone was watching.
Which is odd- considering that everyone else would be asleep- or “offline”, you could say. By all means, no mobs would spawn in the middle of the shopping district, especially after the weird lighting glitch that happened a few days prior. Z racked his brain for possible answers, and everything was coming up short.
The feeling was strangely familiar— something that he had experienced before— he can’t quite place a finger on it.
The tugging, sudden closeness of the space closed around him, he could barely breathe. Space was startled; there is only one thing that could scare it.
Time.
It doesn’t feel like Xisuma’s time— his element was much more gentle, not rough and so…. Cold.
He could almost feel as if space was retreating into the deepest corners of his mind to hide. The white-haired man quickly scrambled up, startling Boo awake in the process, time was here, but with who? Xisuma was nowhere to be seen, and he certainly wouldn’t be the one to kick the element into such a state.
A whisper came through the wind- Or was it a voice? He couldn’t tell. He could hear his heart thumping in his ribs— A sudden hollowness surfaced within him, as he saw smoke like distortion in the suddenly clear night skies, Boo jumped away—
And suddenly. Time froze.
The wind froze in place, leaving a hollowing chill in its wake. With Boo freezing in midair, and the grass posed still. A sickening, scratching sound was heard as the fabric of space forced to tear apart. Z felt a chill run down his spine, he could no longer feel his element present, almost as if it ran away. It’s not like he was proficient at ever using it. Anyways.
His stomach twisted, a form— Something that resembled a human, crawled out from the tear. A smell of gasoline spread through the air, with its source spilling onto the still grass below. And there, it stood a ghastly figure, one that he immediately recognized— white hair that matched his, a telling sign of a creature from the void. It- No. He, his body was see-through, pale, desaturated, almost as if his colors were all drained away from him. Those pale, lightless blue eyes had a red glint to it.
And he didn’t like it.
“Biffa.” The brit breathed out, shaken, but was determined not to show it. The name feels so forgiven. Despite saying it a few times here and there to the other Biffa. His throat tightened. The waning moon had somehow peaked through the frozen clouds, and it’s eerie light bathed the two.
Somewhere deep down, he knew that this would happen, or something along the lines like this. But he was still afraid, scared, he never thought it would happen so soon. It was only a matter of time.
“.̢̠̹̱̰̝͑̌̾̆̊̿̓͜.̦͍̈̎.̭̼̝̰̔̇̌̍X̧̗͉̬̱̦̼͕͂̒̆̃̀̚̚̚͢͝i̺̻̬͎͑̂̀͒́͟ ̣͚͈̙͎͂̄̅̎̉͡ͅs͚̎ú̢̢̪͉̳̙͙̟͈̅͛͊̉̍̃͒͐͟͡ ̼̝̱̱̱͖̟̏̂͑̍̃̋̕ṁ̨̱͑ ̨̬̯̖̮͉̆͗̄̈́͛̕ä̧̦̩̞̦͕͇͂͋̀͒́͠.” The other replied back. In an eerily calm tone of voice. But it’s somehow even more threatening if he had yelled it instead. No one had called him Xisuma in so long— and only…
Only… the people from his timeline.
“What do you want from me? Why are you here?” Z knew that he was stalling, he himself knew exactly when Biffa is here with his former element:
To correct their mistakes.
Where the fuck was Xisuma when he needed him?
Z observed the man across of him, he was glitching— Constantly. the robot’s once closed suit is messy, and opened, revealing huge rip in his chest armor, and the black, oil-like liquid dripped out from it. His tie was unhinged, loosely hanging around his neck. Alongside with his messy, and unkept crazed hair, it all made for a very intimidating situation for the other.
“Y͊͜ô̧͇̱̥͛͐̈͠ͅų̢̬̲̝̮̹̗̓͌̓͗̒̉̒͝͡ͅ ̧̛͔̤̣͔̂́̈́̌̒̓͘͟͢͜͝ͅǩ͖̝̮̓̆ń͔̣̮̥̍̃͌o̦̯̯̮̻̰͌͒͌̀̆̇w̬̫̪̞̯̙̮͐̿͛̀͋̂͛͊͟ ̧̡̠̬̝̹̺̰͓͐͌̀͐͆͂͊́͠w̢̢̡͓͓̞̺̥̅̓͌̉͌̀͠͝h̼͚̗̯̾̈́̐͗y.̨̡̺̗̜͓̈́͛͂̏͌͝ ͎̗̞̭̳̜͖͋͊̀̉́͐͡Y͍͆ő͖̦͇̤̉͛̚ų̬͚̔̄̊͟͞’̹͈͍̠͉̣̎̾͂͛̌̑v̠̘̗̾͝͡ȩ̻̬̺͊̅̅̓́͜͢͠ ͍̱̰̲͌̅̑͘ą̫̞̦͒͐̎́͟͠l̨̦̼̯̩̥̹̦̅̓͋̋̎̿͛͢͞͝r̛͔͈̹͓͖̜̺̘̓͊̂̃̃͗͐̊ͅe̢̛͇̼̫̖̥̲͐̆̏̍̃̚ą̤̭̮͓͍̠̻̙̖̊̀̎̈̓̅͘͘͞͝ḍ͊y̡̟̻̖̩̦͌̀̈̎͘͞ ͇̰͊̃ǎ̭̰̗̳̺̤͈̼͂̓̑͋͌̃͂̚͢ņ̝͇̥̜̩͂͆͂̉̋͠s̡̰̮̄̄̈ŵ̞̞̦̏̏ḕ̘̳̰͠r͖͙͈̓̄͡ę̦͓̲͎͈̥͂̉̍̎͂̋̕͟͝d̰̭͕̅͑͡ ̹̩͚̦̘̺͙̱̩̺̌̀̓̂͌͂̑̽͝͡it̝͕̿͒̚͢ ̦͇̤͐̐͑ȉ͉n̘̘̬͙̯̏̓̏̄̉̋͢͞ͅ ̡̯̲̗̻̹̽̾̑̀̅̊͂͛͟͜y̞̘̬͈̥͚̅̌̓͐̊͝o̓ͅư͍̬͔̣̝̓͐͛̐r̞͓͈̫̟̦͎̼͌̄̏̀̂̒͑͂ ̨̣͎̝̿̅̀͘h͔͚̰̀͐̚e̦̼͈͗͐́͆͜a͈̭͍̹̳͓͚͉̐̈́̿̉̂̈́̚͝d͈͖̬̆̓͝.͚̄ Ý̞̱̤̺̙́̃̊͘ọ̻̹̘̊͂̕͜͞͞ú̙ ̠͓̌͗j̪̽u̡̦̮̲̥̿̽̂̐͑̏͢sṱ̡̱̿̿͐ ̨̹̆͛ḏ͓̠̌̑̏̾̓͜ͅon'̨̻̙̤̖̳̻̎͊̂͌̉͞͞t̨̼͎̾̍̒ ̛̲̤̥̥̮̺͚͉̰͌̉̿̾̒̀͘͡͠ͅw̺̠͊͠a͖̙̬͔̫̒́̿̕͢͝͡ņ͔͌͂t̡͕̦̮̠͑̓́͆͂ ̙̮̩̘̘̍́͆͒̀̈́͜t̪̤̦͉̊̃́̾ò͍̖̯̌̕ ̢̟͇̙̫̼͊̓̇̐͘͘͜͠a̡͔̩̫̙̝̔̑̈́̽͛͠ç̡̹̙̘̺̑̐̃̆̍̐̚͟ĉ̨̖͈̒̋ẻ̡̝͎̭̣̼̝̉̂̎̏̑̃̑̅͢͜p̨̖͈̪͎̿̓̎͋̾t̖̯͙̠̙͖̹̔̽̽̆̃̅͟͡͠ ̧͛i͘͢t͕̾.̡̢̨̯̦͉̺͒̇̔͑͌͋̕”The semi-transparent Brit responded, in that same, monotone, dead voice.
And before he could even start comprehending what the other had said, suddenly—
The former time traveler suddenly felt a tight grasp around his neck, he didn’t even see him move— And he wouldn’t be surprised with the element of time on Biffa’s side— But this? This was threatening— He was going to die— Right here. Right now, No one is here to save him— Oh god— What is X is going to think of this— What if—
He found himself attempting to push the other voidwalker away, but to no success— Biffa was somehow able to interact with him, but not the other way around. He gasped for air, trying time and time again to free himself— His vision darkening— He could hear the ringing in his ear, drowning out whatever words that his former friend was saying—
This is it— This is the end—
And no one would ever know what happened— He isn’t going to be able to warn them about him.
Then. Suddenly time unfroze.
And the person that was once in front of him disappeared without a trace, with Xisuma floating above with several command screens surrounding him. Z immediately bent over, and started wheezing for air, he took in as much as he can, without as for a second to remember and breath back out. That was too close to death for comfort— He had escaped death once, and he was sure that he wouldn’t escape it again.
X quickly switched back into survival and hopped back down onto the grass below, which was still stained by that black liquid from before, and quickly scrambled next to Z, holding him by his back. “Z? Buddy? You alright there?” He quietly asked, while supporting him to make sure he wouldn’t fall over. Boo quickly joined them as well, circling her owner in concern and meowing.
“L-let’s get you home, we can talk about this later, alright? Just. Try to sleep it off.”
As if it’ll be so easy.
Z knew, at the back of his mind, that this will not be the end of it.
And now that he knows that X can indeed do something like this. Next time… It will be a lot more different.
My element most definitely helps with that! While I may be immune to lava damage, my items are- not, to say the least. However, lava bending takes quite the toll on your energy- have you ever tried clearing a hole to the nether floor? Incase you haven't it's, uh... quite deep. But hey, which one of us can confidently say they've never lost a pickaxe to lava?
“No Joe on their side to rush over and give him a second wind, no soothing touch to tell him it’s okay. Just him, the blazing sky, and a grass that is starting to look too green.” [wels pushes himself too hard and it hurts.]
A gasp, a single step missed because of slippery ground, and he’s done for.
The arrow tears through him like a knife through butter, splitting his skin and burying itself deep, deep inside his side. It hurts, god, it hurts so bad. It feels like he’s going to fall apart. He’s got armor, yes, but how much does iron armor really do against the power of a fully charged fully enchanted bow that Grian’s just aimed at him? He’s a good fighter, he knows, but there’s only so much Wels can do to evade an aerial assault and Grian’s just gotten his lucky break.
He resists falling to his knees, curling over, and crying like he wants to. He’s not a fool, he knows what being down a member means, especially in a team where they’ve got less people in the first place. And…they don’t have a healer. No Joe on their side to rush over and give him a second wind, no soothing touch to tell him it’s okay. Just him, the blazing sky, and a grass that is starting to look too green.
Get up, he tells himself. Get up. Get out there. Fight.
It’d be so easy, he thinks, to just lie down and let his teammates help. Let False cover him while Impulse helps him back over, or ask Xisuma to rewind time, or just simply stagger back to base by himself (but he knows, there’s no way in hell he’ll be able to get all the way back. it’s futilefutilefutile). It’d take so little to call out, let out a pained cry like he’s biting back and have their leader command his friends to his aid.
A knight never takes the easy way out. A knight’s duty is to serve his lord, and his people, and he will not let them down. He must not fail, he thinks. Don’t let them down.
But it hurts, it hurts so bad that he don’t think he wants to be here anymore. He wants to be far, far, away where nothing can hurt him and he’s safe again just having fun with his friends and he doesn’t have to worry if the tiny winged fellow he just lent some item frames the other day could be preparing to gut him open like a fish. It hurts, doesn’t it? To see how fast everything falls apart, how fast just one mistake can lead to a world of hurt? But his job is to push past that hurt. A knight does not fall.
He thinks that it’s getting worse, he can feel the blood seeping through his fingers that he’s pressing tightly to his body like that’ll make it hurt any less. His armor and dark underclothes hide it, he hope. He prays. He grits his teeth, gingerly moves behind a hill, and prepares to remove the arrow—can’t have his team asking awkward questions.
Wels takes a deep breath, bites down on a stick, and pulls.
Blood fills his mouth, his ears ring, everything hurts hurts hurts and he wants it to stop so so bad. The arrow was barbed, the son of a bitch, and it hurts so much his skin is coming apart and soon the armor will be the only thing left. There’s a quiet scream ringing in his ears, he’s trying to see who it is before realizing he’s the one screaming and there are tears in his eyes, there are tears running down the metal, and hot, hot blood coating the entire side of his armor. He’s said that he shouldn’t show weakness, but everything hurts so much—he’s never felt this kind of pain before, never felt the kind of pain that makes you feel like you can’t move or breath or do anything for fear of it worsening and every time you move each one of your muscles screams wrong, please, don’t, not anymore, and it takes a moment for him to realize he’s the one whispering those words out loud.
He wants someone to make it better. He wants to be able to get away from it all, to be able to ask to be taken out of the field, to be able to rest at base with some water and all traces of blood gone from the shining, shining armor. Wels wants someone to tell him it’s okay, he doesn’t have to take all this responsibility.
But of course, nobody does. Why would they?
He gets up, and warm blood runs down his body and pain screams in his mind like the very action of getting up is impossible. It’s not, he tells himself, and ignores the spots flashing in his vision.
It’s over the top of the hill that he sees Xisuma, exhausted and leaning on a nearby tree, gesture to him. “You…hah…feeling alright mate?” He gets out, and gestures to his general hunched over posture.
Wels feels intense guilt rush through him for even thinking that he should ask to rewind time for something as trivial as an arrow wound. He steels himself, and shouts out, “I’m fine! Just was catching my breath for a bit.”
“Good! Actually, if you can…mind taking out Stress or Iskall over there? They’re causing us a lotta trouble…” He doesn’t know if he can even get over there. But. His teammate is depending on him, he can’t let Xisuma know his failure.
He can’t talk, or he thinks he might throw up. He gives a thumbs up, and starts to try to get anywhere near them.
Every step hurts, every step feels like his body is going to deconstruct and fling itself somewhere far into the stars and the universe. He’s not sure whether it’s his own will or the armor holding himself up at this point, but he soldiers on anyways.
He finally, finally gets near them. He doesn’t think they notice. He launches himself into the air completely ignoring the spots that flash and the burning hot-cold hole in his side and the blood drying sticky to his armor. He brings his sword down, an executioner at the table, and he doesn’t know whether he’s killing himself or the others.
It hurts, he wants to say. Please, can I have help? Can you make me feel better? But that’s so pathetic and weak and not at all helpful. He manages to get a hit on Stress before she sends him flying with ice, and that’s when he realizes that will might not be enough to keep him going.
He’s lying on the ground, ice coating his armor and the ground around him like some sort of twisted armor enchantment. It’s so cold, so so so cold and he can’t tell whether this is better or whether the burning heat of earlier is preferable. He’s just so tired.
There’s tears dropping onto the ground. He thinks it’s him. He can’t stop them anymore, can’t force them back. Doesn’t even have the energy to try to get up for a second strike.
He thinks his armor’s sprung a leak, maybe. He sees red swirl out around him, in some sick facsimile of finger paints on paper. He dips his finger in them and moves them around in the ice, forming small patterns.
He can’t move. Why can’t he move? Why did he need to move?
You can’t stop, you know, he tells himself. You’re a knight. You’re not a burden, are you? Just a pathetic weakling who can’t even fulfill his destiny? He knows. He knows he’s not quite enough, that he’s bleeding out on a bed of cracked ice and that he feels like his spirit is increasingly drifting from his body.
Joe, he croaks, but he doesn’t think he made any sound. He’s past saving, probably. Nobody around to help.
He thinks, if he can’t be of use, he could at least put Stress out of commission. He forces himself up. He can’t feel his hands.
He moves towards Stress. Jumps up with mechanical accuracy. His mind is overloading.
Brings the blade down. Twist at the last second. He’s not real, can’t feel anything at all.
Stress collapses. He starts moving, stiff-legged march, to his side of the field. He lied, he can feel the heat of the blood inside his armor.
He’s coming over the dip in the ground, marching, and he sees the sun dyed red and the grass behind him red in some weird mockery of a snow golem, and he laughs. Laughs and it hurts more so he laughs again.
His shirt is soaked, but he can’t really feel it. Just feels the weight. His armor’s a dull red.
He thinks he’s hurting, can’t tell anymore, just knows that his atoms are falling apart and his world is so bright and he’s failed his teammates.
Wels stumbles in front of Ren, still mostly unscathed, and looks at him with eyes with nothing behind them. “Please make it stop. Please. I’ll do anything, I know I fucked up, just make it stop.”
Ren takes a look at Wels, looks at the trail of blood, and freezes up. “I—man, what? Are you okay? What do you need?” His voice is pitching up in panic. “Wels, listen, we gotta get you to Joe or something. Or back to base. I’ll take you back, let me just let Doc know,--”
He’s cut off be Wels grasping his wrist with a blood-stained hand, knuckles turning white from the force. “No, they can’t know I didn’t do my job.” His voice is little more than a whisper. “I can keep going…”
Ren decides it’s not worth it. “DOC! Please, you gotta come quick man, Wels got hit or something and now he’s bleeding out here and I don’t know what to do!” He shouts across the field.
Doc looks over, distracted, and almost gets hit by Iskall. “WHAT? But Wels seemed fine when I saw him earlier—hold on! I’m heading over.”
Wels is swaying on his feet, eyes starting to go completely blank. “I’m fine.”
It’s in the next instant that Wels collapses, and Ren rushes to catch him before he hits the ground. His eyes are rolled back in his head, his skin is paper-white, and that’s before he notices the giant wound in his side. It’s—it’s bad.
He thinks he knows now why Wels was so pale and out of it.
Doc comes over, and he lets out a horrified gasp at the condition of their teammate. “...What happened? Why didn’t he let us know?”
“I think he didn’t want us to know, Doc…” Ren hesitantly says. They both sit on their heels, an awkward silence settling over the group. There’s still sounds of metal clashing behind them. “I guess, I’ll be taking him back to base?”
“God, please do. He’s so messed up, he shouldn’t have been out here fighting in the first place…” Doc says. “I’m so sorry, man,” he whispers in an aside to the completely unconscious Wels.
Ren picks up Wels in an awkward kind of side-carry, because jesus that armor was heavy, and prepares to head back to base. He thinks about what Wels was doing, and why he didn’t just tell them. He’ll talk to him after he wakes up, Ren thinks.
Until then, his top priority was going to be making sure that Wels’ wound and his stuff is taken care of until he gets better. That’s what friends do for each other.
TFC'S element is earth, one of the most powerful ones out there! Be sure to stay on his good side and don't annoy him, cause he can literally move mountains.
For more detail check out this link!: https://justpaste.it/ElementalHermits
