AO3 link - this was written for the hermitcraft guess the author 2024 event. do go check out the other authors as found in the AO3 collection.
Etho awoke a random summer's day to unfamiliar surroundings. It wasn't his usual base build. Instead, he found himself in a green bedspread with an accompanying nightstand stacked high with romance books. All the titles in Japanese. Startled, he decided to search around. See if he could find any more information as to where he had suddenly been transported to. Not knowing how he'd fallen asleep, was the moon still growing?
'Yikes,' Etho realized exactly where he was after recognizing the figure in the bathroom window. One less pixelated than it should be. His jacket no longer baring the Canadian flag emblem on the sleeve. Nor did his headband. A headband that was more of an eye patch if he was honest. Instead, it was a symbol that looked to be an abstract bird. A beak with a swirl branching off of it. Etho tried to recall everything he knew about the Naruto series. What arc even is this? Unfortunately he’d have to interact with the other characters to figure out.
Etho wasn’t the only one. Kakashi awoke to a pixelated wooden house. Did his vision get this bad overnight? Looking down, he was relieved to see his uniform still intact. But like Etho, he noted the difference in emblems. Lucky for him, Etho wasn’t involved in any big plans. Their personalities similar in that they were both aloof individuals. If only he had his books, Kakashi wistfully thought to himself.
The Hermits, one by one would eventually have the epiphany that something was off with their friend. ‘I asked him if he could fix the meal bone farm…it’s almost as if he short circuited,’ Iskall remarked to Grian. Telling him more about how “Etho” fell off their base, completely forgetting about the waterfall elevator. Going berserk with the belief that he only had one life.
'Have you noticed anything weird about Kakashi-Sensei?' Sakura reluctantly asked Naruto. 'Besides him not reading those boring novels? Not really.' Sakura on the other hand had noticed the change in “Kakashi's” demeanor. The man was more jovial, more talkative. Sakura decided that if a doppelganger had replaced their sensei, the best course of action would be to ask something that only their sensei would. But what? Oh, those pesky books. Kakashi would definitely know the plot lines backwards and forwards. Especially as it'd been one of his notable traits since they had first met. But Sakura didn't know anything about them. All the more reason to ask.
'Hey Sensei? What happened in the last volume of Make Out Tactics?' Naruto sputtered out in shock, 'but you weren't interested when I offered to explain last week! Ow! What was that for?' Sakura kicked his shin, trying to get him to shut up. Etho had zero clue. All he knew was that they were some erotica series and that he should act bashful. 'Uh, well, I don't think that's something I should be telling you, at your age,' Etho hoped his acting was up to par. Rather, it cemented what Sakura thought. If it had been their sensei, he wouldn't be able to form a coherent answer at all.
It's when the moon glows larger in the pixelated sky for the final time that the two are returned back to their respective places. Sakura is stuck as the only one aware. Later being gas lit by both Naruto and Kakashi who is actually Kakashi again. Simply told it was a figment of overactive chakras. Kakashi wants to leave it in the past and never mentions the horrors he had witnessed. Fighting against multiple creatures—mobs as the celestial body rose higher on the horizon. Iskall on the other hand confronts Etho which results in him divulging everything from the moment he woke up to the moment he returned. Glad to be back in his mountainous base.
AO3 link - this was written for the hermitcraft guess the author 2025 event. do go check out the other authors as found in the AO3 collection.
It was a rowdy night at a tavern down by the shore. The sky alighted with stars, accompanied by a stormy fog. The seas raging against the coast. listening to the sounds of the howling wind, Pearl sat in the corner. nursing a pint of ale. Able to shed the reputation of being a merchant's daughter. Not having to abide by the social rules that keep her ensnared.
The only tell is the fine stitching of the clothes she wears. The alcohol coursing through everyone's veins, combined with the dim lighting made none the wiser. Watching those who came through the doors as her fingers played with the rim of her glass. A folksy band playing towards the front. patrons' limbs flailing on the offbeat.
Drawn from her limbo by the haunted woman that walks in. The saloon doors swung open with the clang of her boots echoing on the floorboards. purposely avoiding the one that squeaks. Water seems to pool around each footstep. It's the fiery orange of her curls that catches pearl's attention. Sparse rays of light catching on the seashells threaded through the locks. Wearing a heavy fishermen’s jacket and matching wader pants.
Straightening up when she notices the stranger walking over to...her?
'This seat taken?' Pearl shakes her head no. Waving a hand; the gesture saying to feel free. An attempt to appear nonchalant. Her heart betraying her as it skips a beat.
Wiping off some of the water from her skin, 'ah, now where are my manners? My name's Cleo,' outstretching the hand for Pearl to shake. Smiling when she notices how speechless Pearl is being. 'And what should I call you, pretty lady?'
Pearl coughs as she realizes. 'Pearl. You can call me Pearl.'
'You're a regular but I've never seen you here before.' The statement sounds accusatory but it's a rather innocent observation. Referring back to how Cleo knew to avoid the squeaky floorboard. If one didn't avoid the floorboard, a drink ended up costing you twice as much. 'I'm usually at sea. A cruel mistress, but she treats me well.'
Throughout the early hours, Cleo makes Pearl laugh harder than she has in a long while. A sense of camaraderie developing between the two of them. Cleo insists on making sure Pearl gets home safe. Seeing her shiver, Cleo offers up her jacket to Pearl with the comment, 'to keep a good eye on it.' Leaving without it.
The significance only dawns on Pearl when she can't find Cleo anywhere in town. Recalling the stories people told their children of the creatures that lurked beneath the depths. She had gotten proposed to by a selkie. A tragically beautiful selkie that Pearl didn't know if she'd ever see again.
