“Hey, Blondie!” A distorted British voice called. It reminded Grian of someone else who’s familiar- but oddly different. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for him to not know someone on this new server, after all.
The winged hermit looked up from the boats to the mountain covered shores of the main island and spotted a stranger in red armor that he hadn't met yet in this strange new world… His armor was similar to Xisuma’s, as well as his voice actually...
“...Yes?” The British hermit tilted his head curiously at the new man. “Are you talking to me?”
“Ugh, yes, you. Who else?! You are licherally the only one in the nearby area right now.” The horned stranger strode down the mountain. “You are the new hermit the stinkin’ admin invited, yeah?”
Grian nodded after a brief pause, and the Xisuma look-a-like continued to speak, “I’ve heard you’re a big fan of shenaniganry, aren’t ya? Interested in some advice?” Grian, dumbfounded, continued to nod. “Well, mind going for a walk? The weather is too nice to be wasted in the shadows of some mountain.” The red armored individual held out his claw-like hands, and the hermit took them, almost without hesitation.
Not that Grian had much of a choice, actually... Something about the stranger was charming and made him easy to listen to.
Not-Xisuma pulled him up onto land and let go of the hermit’s hand. As they climbed the steep mountain- with the stranger walking with an awfully lightweight pace, despite the heavy armor he was wearing- the other spoke once again, “Don’t you think the server is a little too quiet, Grian? Don’t you think it is in need of some… Chaos? Just like your old home, don’t you remember all those pranks you did? How much fun you had?”
Grian stopped for a moment- Nevermind the fact that he somehow knew about his life before Hermitcraft in Evo, or how he suddenly knew his name- he had a point! Maybe that was what he needed to truly fit in with the hermits… It could probably ease him of homesickness as well.
The horned one took the air wielder’s silence as a sign to keep speaking, “Well, what do you think? Personally, I think something small would work… a tag game perhaps- Drat.”
The stranger abruptly stopped talking, as a look of rancor briefly appeared on his face as if something just died nearby, and as quickly as the expression had come, it left once again. Grian didn’t have much time to process the sudden change of mood before the silence was broken by a very similar voice to the red stranger- this time- he recognized it.
“Grian? Whacha doing out here alone?” The more familiar British voice replaced the formerly twisted voice. The winged hermit turned around, surprised to find the green armored version of the one he has been talking to. “N-nothing much really… Hey, do you guys know e-” Grian turned around once again to where the horned one once was, only to find he was replaced by air. “...each other?...”
“...Grian?? You good dude?” Xisuma asked in a concerned tone, “If you aren’t feelin’ well, we can go to the Guardian Temple another day.”
“No! No… Uhm.” Grian coughed a bit, “Anyways, by any chance do you know someone that looks uncannily like you? He had red armor instead of your green one, and he had horns… Huge horns!” The Air wielder made exaggerated motions in the air, mimicking what he had seen.
The admin’s face turned up as he tried to suppress a laugh, and snorted before letting it out and spoke in breaths. “So you’ve met Evil Xisuma! Glad he made an impression on ya, at least.” X’s laugh died though, but his smile was still bright without his helmet to obscure it. “Don’t worry about that scumbag, he can’t cause much harm! Out of curiosity though, what did he say to ya?”
“He wanted to see a tag game of sorts, I suppose? I mean... it sounds fun, doesn’t it? This Evil Xisuma guy seems to have some good ideas once in a blue moon.” Grian thought for a bit, “I might actually just go ahead and start one.”
“You aren’t wrong, that does seem like a swell idea, get some things on the server startin’, at least!” X agreed, “Well, feel free to start this tag game then, it certainly has my approval.” The admin spoke, as he picked up a boat from his inventory, and held it in his arms, “Evil Xisuma and potential tag game aside, shall we get going to the Guardian Temple, then?” He asked the new hermit, and energy bubbled up in Grian once more, excited to finally have some dark prismarine at his disposal.
A little fic for @ask-elementalhermitcraft based off of one of Joe’s poems, Like Your Enemy (from his s6 ep96, Puttering Around).
Length: 2784 words
I made war on the sea and became the waves
The night was damp and warm, but that was to be expected; they were, after all, in the middle of a swamp. The stagnant water covering the ground reflected the clear, crisp white light of the moon above. In the water, she watched Iskall and Stress a full bit away making a routine sweep of G Team’s territory.
She and Ren weren’t supposed to encounter them tonight, and certainly not in the middle of a swamp, where both Iskall and Stress’ powers would nearly be at full height. But it was night, and the moon was shining on the swamp water. False and Ren were at the height of their power, too.
Still, a skirmish was less than preferable. They would be too evenly matched. She needed to find Ren, wherever the reckless man had gone, before the opposing duo found him first. Without moving an inch, she shifted her attention to her partner for the night. She didn’t have to look far before Ren’s image stared back at her from the water. His expression was as tense as False felt; he could see the enemy.
False was off, bow in hand, fast as she was able while keeping the sound of her feet splashing in the water to a minimum. She kept an eye on the scene through the mirrored surface of the swamp but she could only watch as Ren backed further into the underbrush and Iskall and Stress continued to draw closer. She passed a massive ravine; that, perhaps, would prove useful.
She slowed to a crouching crawl and then hid behind a tree once the duo came into her line of sight. Their backs were still to her, but it was colder now and the slimy swamp water covering her feet clung to her diamond boots. Across a wide—too wide—span of water and hidden within dense forest, False saw the barely-visible shine of Ren’s eyes glowing silver in the power of the full moon. Behind him, a massive ravine marred the terrain.
The night was still. The air was thick. The firm grasp of her element was familiar as she summoned a shield to encase her body.
Iskall and Stress attacked with not so much as a passing glance exchanged between them.
The speeding line of ice that Stress sent her way just barely grazed False’s feet as she leapt backward onto dry land. Instinctive reactions and years of training had her sending an arrow in Stress’ direction before she landed. Her boots were frosted over, but there was no time to think about how cold her toes were while Stress was sprinting towards her.
Get Ren. Stay out of the water.
Stress threw her hands out and False danced away from an array of ice spikes. Stress and Iskall were most powerful when they and their opponents were surrounded by water. False lunged forward and slashed at Stress with her sword. It didn’t make contact. Of course this had to happen in a swamp.
“Stay still, love,” Stress snarled at her as False dodged yet another attack. The biting cold might have affected her if it weren’t for her skin-like shield she kept up. In her peripheral vision, she could see Ren and Iskall battling it out, slightly closer to the bank where Ren had been hiding. She shot an arrow, quick as lightning, and felt more sick than happy when it met its target.
Stress cried out. The arrow stuck out from her thigh as False leapt back. Water splashed outward as Stress fell. False’s instincts, honed after years of battle, told her to go for the kill as Stress looked up at her in shock. Her opponent was on the ground, at her mercy.
False hesitated a second too long, because a blade met her stomach before she could make another move.
Iskall’s sword shattered her shimmering shield and the impact knocked her to the ground as well. Her sword was in hand and raised for a second strike despite her fall, but she only caught a glimpse of Iskall’s face twisted in rage before Ren’s body slammed into the one-eyed man and the pair fell flailing to the ground.
Ren’s growl matched the look in Iskall’s sole eye in intensity, but his next move was to lunge toward Stress rather than continue to engage Iskall. Determined to protect his friend, Iskall leapt to his feet to intervene, but False swung her blade and stepped between him and the pair.
Iskall was a force to be reckoned with under normal conditions but this, with the water freezing and slime sticking the soles of her feet to the ground, plus his own increased speed in the swamp, this was simply unfair. False found herself fighting to keep her sword in hand and a magic shield in front of her only for it to break with one swing of his blade. Iskall was angry and, she had to admit, that was almost as terrifying as Doc angry.
>Rendog fell from a high place
False felt her blood turn icy, and she knew it had nothing to do with the ice elemental in her vicinity. Stress and Ren must have reached the ravine. Of course he’d been the one to fall. False was on her own now, against Iskall and Stress.
Iskall knew, too. False stumbled, the intensity of the moment finally getting to her. The Swede before her lunged and she fell once again, flat on her back, drenched in murky water.
They weren’t even supposed to engage tonight.
Iskall stalked forward. Behind her, False felt the chilly presence of Stress approaching, but she never took her eyes off of the imminent threat before her.
A plan formed in her mind; risky, deadly, but a plan. There was little choice but to attempt it. She’d exhausted all other options.
Iskall’s sword was coming down and False felt the tell-tale cold of ice rushing toward her back. She formed a small shield behind his legs and moved, quick as a whip, rolling forward and kicking outward to trip him and leap forward onto dry land in one smooth motion.
Iskall fell face-first into a foot-deep puddle of water that froze over immediately.
“Iskall!” Stress rushed forward, icicle already in hand to chip away at the ice covering him, but False wasn’t about to stick around to figure out if it would work.
She darted off, back towards her home base where Ren had surely respawned, leaving the pair behind her. She was out of the swamp with Team STAR’s base in view when the death message announced the result.
>Iskall85 drowned
I made war on the peaks and became the stone
There was a razed path of destruction through the world, a gruesome scar cut from the battleground of the two bases straight to the sea. The sun was rising over the water in the distance, though the fires all around burned bright enough that it might as well be day already.
Cleo stayed back, and perhaps that was cowardly, but her powers worked best from a distance. Jevin and Tango played tank, engaging in brutal, direct combat with Wels and Impulse, respectively. Cleo could barely see Mumbo through his cloud of redstone on the opposite side of the battlefield, identifiable as the source of dusty red waves that spawned deadly machines and weapons that activated on their own. The landscape was a mess of fire and iron, torn up by redstone machinery and levitated terrain.
Cleo’s undead army of zombies and pigmen, amassed from days of concentration next to a portal and an enormous glass containment pen, didn’t seem to be doing much harm to any of their three enemies but they did make decent targets for Mumbo’s machines. She could feel the dull aches all over her body as her forces were cut down by arrows and pistons and lava and for the first time in the fight that was lasting hours, the impacts were too difficult for her weary body to ignore.
The sun finally rose from the water. Cleo felt the uncomfortably warm sensation of her hundreds of mobs catching flame; with control of so many, she couldn’t stop them from burning. Lucky for her, Mumbo was tiring too, his cloud of red dispersing and thinning to the point where she could see his form kneeling on the ground. His machines were weaker and more sparse.
Cleo turned her attention to the continued fight between Wels and Jevin. The slime was no longer exhausting energy on freezing Wels’ arrows and the edges of his physical form were beginning to warp. Wels had dropped the swords that once circled him and his armor was no longer changing in response to Jevin’s attacks; it was simply spiked. They were beginning to tire. Anyone would be; this had to be the longest, most exhausting battle she’d been part of. They were too evenly matched. The sun had set and now risen again and yet not an inch of ground had been given or taken. The only result of their fighting was a stain on the surface of the world.
And yet, in the center of it all, burning the terrible path, two beacons of scorching heat clashed with what felt like a bottomless well of energy. It seemed as if Tango and Impulse were incapable of exhaustion. Cleo couldn’t even imagine it.
It hurt to watch. Literally—the brilliant light they were emitting burned her retinas—but in more ways than just physical; they were best friends. The sight of the two of them at each other’s throats was a horrible testament to how far out of hand the war had gotten. Hands burning, bodies glowing, the pair pulled apart and then rushed back in, an endless cycle every time they came face-to-face now. Flames licked Impulse’s mouth every time he opened it and the whip of fire in his hand lashed like a snake with a mind of its own. Tango’s hands were ablaze and the ground around his feet glowed red-hot with every step he took. The identical looks in their eyes were nothing less than ferocious.
As the sun rose behind her, Cleo allowed herself to take a step back and witness the battle. Her body shook with the toil of it; her armies ablaze, Mumbo all but motionless on the ground, Wels and Jevin locked in exhausted combat, Tango and Impulse forging a hideous inferno.
Joe, in all his infinite kindness and wisdom, had told her this was a mistake. Maybe they all had known that the whole time. And yet, even he had chosen a side. Whatever had caused this, even he wasn’t immune. She turned around; she needed a moment to collect herself.
There was a figure silhouetted by the sun in the distance, standing atop the highest mountain surrounding the scorched, upturned valley. Cold terror shot through Cleo like an icy knife stabbing her spine. Friend, or foe? Come to help the G Team or STAR? She didn’t know which option she feared more. It didn’t matter, she supposed; either way, it meant the end of this grueling battle.
The figure didn’t move. The mountain rumbled.
It was then that Cleo realized who it was. Neither friend nor foe, it was the reclusive Tinfoil Chef, emerging from beneath the earth for the first time in months.
She didn’t even have time to process that thought before the world went black. Her body crumpled and her lungs filled with filth as the surrounding mountains collapsed and the dirt beneath her feet gave way. A tidal wave of earth filled the valley, crushing the six hermits battling there.
In the month since the war had begun, every hermit had come to recognize when Doc and Grian were fighting. It wasn’t particularly hard to tell; the moment the two were in proximity and aware of each others’ presence, it was as if the sky itself was at war, as if the heavens were being ripped apart. A storm would hover low overhead, bolts of lightning streaking in jagged, violent paths from the clouds to the ground, accompanied by the crack of thunder and the wind howling angry ramblings as it sent rain sideways and upwards.
Doc stood on the roof of the ghast tower, trident in hand, eyes locked on the sky, searching for Grian’s faint form swooping through the clouds.
“Show yourself!” he roared, and the sky flashed white as a bolt of lightning arced through the clouds to hit the earth in the center of no-man’s land.
A winged man was silhouetted in the brief light. Doc lifted his trident, feeling its weight in his hand. It buzzed with energy that danced between the prongs and sent static running along his body. He aimed at the figure, knowing Grian was long gone, and shot into the air.
The feathers on Grian’s wings stood on end as a bold of pure electricity passed by where he’d been mere seconds before. His hand gripped tightly around his sword, his knuckles pale, his heart giddy as the man below shouted to the heavens:
“Face me, coward!”
Grian’s snicker was carried enough by the wind that Doc could hear it from where he stood down below. He grit his teeth, trying not to channel too much energy into his trident. Fights with Grian were more often than not long and painful, and pacing was key, especially because the man he was facing had far more stamina than him. At times, it seemed like Grian lived in the air. There had once been a time when Doc found his endless flight charming, but now he only felt a desire to ground the man with a vicious bolt of electricity.
Even from high above its source, Grian could feel the air tingling with electrical energy. It smelled of ozone and rain, and there was a sort of giddy thrill about him that he recognized as his element; the air was normally benevolent, if slightly reckless. Something about this war, though—perhaps the power that went along with fighting everyone—made his element more excited than normal.
He could feel it start circling before he commanded it to, but he paid no mind, and simply urged the forming tornado along. The sky lit up with another bolt of Doc’s lighting and Grian allowed himself to be illuminated by the blast. Below, Doc was alight with crackling energy on the roof of STAR’s ghast tower. The wind howled as Grian began his descent.
It was foolish to assume that any singular battle would end this war. It almost felt, at this point, that the entire thing would never end. At times like these, though, when it was one-on-one, and the conflict felt all the more personal and all the more deadly, it was easier to fall into the misguided hope that taking out the leader would stop the war.
Doc’s trident lit up with electricity, crackling and sparking, the scent of ozone pungent in the air. Wind swirled around Grian, a miniature hurricane surrounding him as he gained speed. Doc took aim as Grian swooped down, gaining momentum.
Doc’s eyes widened. At the last second, he sidestepped, and Grian sped straight down past him, grazing his wing on the corner of the ghast tower. The sting caught him by surprise, but the noise he made was nothing compared to the scream Doc let out. He caught the slightest glimpse of the man’s body alight with crackling energy before he was gone. It was far too late for Grian to try and stop himself; he simply closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable crash into the ground.
The energy surging through Doc was agonizing and brilliant. His entire being was electrified. Grian’s personal tornado had yanked his trident from his hand just as he was about to shoot the menace, and his own lightning had backfired on him. He could feel himself burning from the inside out, though he could hardly say the sensation was unfamiliar. He caught one final look at Grian’s falling form, and was filled with a sense of cruel satisfaction, knowing the other man would soon be dead, too.
>Grian experienced kinetic energy
>Docm77 was struck by lightning
I made war on my neighbor and died, flesh and bone
So I have been listening to Talk to me by Cavetown alot as of late. And I just couldn’t get this idea out of my head, so I had to write it down.
Also had this stashed away on my ipad for like a month because I forgot I wrote it.
Au is @ask-elementalhermitcraft
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
Characters: Evil X, Joehills and mentioning of other hermits
Summary: when Ex had a nightmare, Joe shows up with a little song to sing.
He shot up in the bed, the whole world lagging as he had tears coming from his eyes. Once again he had one of those nightmares, or well more like memories from his own timeline of the world.
He held his hands up to his face, moving them from over his eyes and through his hair. Taking a deep breath, as he saw that his own movements was lagging. He’s own powers or something going against him.
He took up his message box up, messages was popping in of people asking into the sudden lag. Most of the hermits was asking X if it was his fault, Iskall of course was blaming Mumbo, because of all of his redstone farms had created lag for them before.
Joe knowing what was happening, he had messaged him privately with what looked either like a song or a poem he was writing to calm him down..
JoeHills: “you don’t have to be a hero to save the world, it doesn’t make you a narcissist to love yourself, it feels like nothing is easy, it will never be. That’s alright, let it out, talk to me”
Ex giving a small smile, that was quickly drowned as he took to his head, tears falling from his eyes as he screamed out. It felt like his head was exploding. The whole world seemed to freeze fully up, right as it happend.
His breathing fast and light, as if he was having an anxiety attack.
Joe who had made it to the base as the freezing had happend. Stood and waited, but moved quickly to the door of Ex’s room. Knocking a pattern to a song they had made together, just so he knew it was him who was out there.
”C-come in” Ex got stammered out through his breaths and tears. Joe of course didn’t stall, opening the door slowly or well more times than once, the lag making it abit hard to get through it at first, the same happening as he closed it slowly behind him again.
He walked through it all, sitting on the bed beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“Nightmares?” Joe lifted and eyebrow, keeping his comforting smile on his lips. Ex just slowly nodded back.
Taking a deep breath, Joe began slowly singing as he used his powers to call him down.
“You don’t have to be a prodigy to be unique, you don’t have to know what to say or what to think. You don’t have to be anybody you can never be. That’s alright, let it out, talk to me” He slowly sang, looking at him with that smile as always.
Ex slowly calming down, sat and just slowly listened to him.
“Anxiety.. Tossing, turning in your sleep, even if you run away, you still see them in your dreams. It’s so dark tonight, but you’ll survive, certainly. It’s alright, come inside, and talk to me” Joe took his hands in his, “We can talk here on the floor. On the phone, if you prefer. I’ll be here until you’re okay, let your words release the pain. You and I will share the weight. Growing stronger day by day”
He smiled to him, Ex slowly smiling back, tears still falling from his eyes.
“It’s so dark outside tonight, build a fire warm and bright, and the wind, it howls and bites. Bite it back with all your might” He made as if he was biting the air, laughing at it.
Joe looked at him and smiled, pushing the tears of Ex’s face, taking him into a hug. Ex who was slowly tearing up again, this time with happy tears as he hugged Joe back.
“Thanks dad..” He mumbled slowly out. Joe, touched by this, smiled and pulled the two apart, pushing the tears away from his own face.
“You called me dad..” Joe looked at him, sounding happy but still had a curious sound in his voice. Ex, who had just realised it, looked away embarrashed.
“I-I DIDN’T!” He shouted out, trying to hide that he had said it. Joe, who had just smiled, laughed and nuzzled his hair.
“Hey it’s okay, son” He winked and laughed, standing up, he pulled out some cookies and gave them to Ex. Turning around on his feet, singing as he was going to the door.
“Anxiety, tossing, turning in your sleep, even if you run away, you still see them in your sleep.. It’s so dark tonight” He stood in the door, looking at Ex, “it looks nice, fall asleep. It’s alright, come inside, talk to me” He made as if he was texting and smiled. Closing the door behind him.
Ex who was alone in his room now, eating the cookies. The song, Joe sang, stuck in his head. He smiled. When he didn’t have anyone else.. Joe was always there for him, using his powers to help calm him down. He couldn’t ask for a better friend..
Hello, short note before we begin! It is ever so great to see and be able to present to everyone the Elemental AU once again. With the interest of both new and some returning mods (Of which we will probably make a new Mod post very soon!), we will be rebooting this AU. It is unfortunate that many of the past mods will not be returning with us to this AU due to a lack of motivation or other events, but we will try our best to return this blog to its former glory!
With such a drastic move as completely rebooting the story, we believe that you will have certain questions that we can hopefully answer in this following post.
Thank you for sticking with us.
Mod Al.
(Keep Reading for the QnA itself!)
Q: Will we have a central plot for this AU?
A: Yes we will!! We are working hard on a central story for the AU! Hopefully more organized and comprehensible than the last, and more appropriate for an AU of hermitcraft. It will take lots of work, but we believe we can do it!
Q: Will we see ex/z again?
A: Unfortunately we’ve decided to scrap the original Evil Xisuma character for this au, and he won’t be appearing in the reboot. However, it does not mean that he will be gone forever!
Q: Have the hermit’s powers changed with the season?
A: Yes! [we’re working on updating the document!]
Q: Will the old fics be gone?
A: No worries! We are deciding to keep the old fics on the blog, but they will not be included in a new canon tag for the AU(that tag is to be decided.).
Q: Are you guys moving to a new blog for the story? Will we still have asks?
A: Similar question, but we will be continuing to use this URL for the AU! Asks for the hermits will be open once again after we get the story started and rolling. For now, asks on this blog will be treated as OOC asks.
Q: Can we get a hint on what the new main plot will be about?
A: Very similar to before, it’s about the Season 6 Civil War, but there are many things rewritten about it to be able to tell the story that we want to tell! Unlike before however, we are likely to start the plot by the tag game, not the very beginning of the season.
That is it for the end of this QnA! However, if you still have remaining questions that are not addressed in the post, feel free to shoot us an ask while we work on rebooting the AU into a hopefully, even better and solid story than before.
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.
