Chapter Text
FlameFrags quickly cycled through his gear, throwing things out of barrels, stuffing the wrong items in his shulkers.
This was out of him. He’s doing things he’s never done before.
Maybe it was the pressure of the law finally getting to him. But Flame knows damn well he’ll never admit that if it was true.
The familiar echo of the Law’s goat horn echoed, rumbling the deepest part of Flame’s ears.
The sound makes him jump to his feet, abandoning whatever he had left in his barrels before he’s rushing outside.
“Holy chungus squad, bro…” Flame felt his left eye twitch beneath the blindfold, hand instinctively at the hilt of his sword before he unsheathed it.
Groups of players in enchanted diamond armour charged at him, leaving Flame to hiss as they got too close. He hasn't potted up yet—he hasn’t even found Wemmbu yet.
Parrot was probably wondering where he was. But what can Flame do when a constant stream of Players keeps running after him?
Well obviously, the answer wasn’t to run, but to face them.
Flame steadies his stance before swinging his sword with a precise motion, years of battle making all his strikes reflex.
He times his shield to block the blows coming left and right, but there was only so much a lone person like him could do against a bunch of group raiders.
While Flame’s power was overwhelming, their numbers were greater than he's able to handle. Realically, he could only win if he used up all the resources he painstakingly prepared for days.
But Flame was left with no other choice. He pushed back, taking the rest of the Law members down before looting their stashes from the mountain of corpses.
The law was starting to get under his skin. How was he gonna get Wemmbu back when he’s being hunted like this?
If Wemmbu was here, would he laugh at him? Would he ridicule Flame and call him bad?
He wants to see Wemmbu, he wants to see that stupid smile. He wants to see those eyes crinkle whenever Flame embarrasses himself in front of him.
With a newfound determination, Flame headed to the nearby Law base, blood of the previous guards dripping down his armour.
This was a testimony of how much Wemmbu mattered to him.
Flame refuses to name it anything other than care.
Whether Lettuce asks why he’s doing this, or why he’s so determined to follow a ghost, wouldn't be answered.
No one deserves to know just how deeply Wemmbu’s engraved himself into Flame’s life.
Every second without his rival didn't feel worth it. Wemmbu thinks it’s a coincidence, but Flame thinks their existence was intertwined with each other.
That’s gotta be it, right? That’s the reason why Flame’s bashing a Lawman’s head against the stone wall. That’s why he kicks a Lawman by the guys and stomps over his head, cracking the man’s skull beneath his heavy boots with a satisfying crunch.
His brain buzzes, the ringing making him want to pull at his dreads.
The lawmen looked at Flame—terrified as they backed away, holding their hands up in surrender.
But it was past the point of return.
He had missed the supposed meetup with Parrot.
He had missed his chance to see Wemmbu again, and it was all because of The Law.
If he destroys The Law, would it make it easier for him to search for Wemmbu?
Flame mindlessly murmurs to himself, grabbing a Lawman by the neck in reflex before stabbing the poor guy directly at his chest.
Was it too much to ask for him to just see Wemmbu?
He had so many things he wanted to say, had so many new tricks to surprise him and yet, Flame hasn't been given the chance to do so.
If he could, he’d just run his fingers up Wemmbu’s bare skin, nails digging into his flesh, scraping it open until Wemmbu was screaming.
He wanted to drink up everything Wemmbu had to offer, even if it was screams and his cries.
And Flame’s fingers were digging against the nerves of Wemmbu’s flesh, he wanted to cut his own skin open, mixing their blood together—veins connecting as he felt Wemmbu’s pulse against his own.
Flame wants to dance inside Wemmbu’s nerves. He wants to be connected so deeply their organs press against each other.
He wants to be everything that Wemmbu thinks about. Wants to be thought about as much as he thought about Wemmbu.
The sunlight hits Flame through his blindfold, looking around as he finds the silence to be odd. Where were the Lawmen at?
A weapon’s metal clang could be heard as it hit the ground. Flame looked down and saw bodies of lawmen, trailing to where he was standing.
Since when did he do that?
Oh well, he shouldn't think about it too hard. His body probably went on autopilot, Flame thought—hopes.
But it was a good thing that The Law was out of his hair now. He just needed to find Parrot and Theo and assess the situation.
Flame walks back to his base first and spots a familiar silhouette in the distance.
The ray of bright green fingers made it easy to identity who it was despite the figure wearing netherite armour.
“Parrot?” Flame called out. Parrot turns to look at him, annoyance evident from just his expression.
Flame craned his neck to see Theo behind Parrot, looking like he just got into a fight with someone he shouldn't have.
“Where were you, bro?” Parrot shoots Flame a glare. Flame notices the way the avian’s hands were balled up on either side of him, body shaking like a wind on a windy day.
Theo puts a hand on Parrot’s shoulder. Flame couldn't make out what he was whispering to Parrot. But with the way Parrot took a deep breath, his shoulders relaxing, Flame thinks he could probably guess what Theo told him.
“Just why— Flame. We’ve set everything up for you. All you needed was to show up, but you didn't.” At this point, Parrot was rubbing his temple with his fingers, wings fluttering out of frustration.
Flame knew that from Parrot’s perspective, it looked like Flame had sent them to die. But what could he even do when The Law wouldn't leave him alone?
“Bro. No way you’re blaming me right now,” Flame let out a bitter laugh, his smile obviously forced. “You know how The Law’s been after me. How the hell is this my fault?”
Because realistically, how would he be able to face Wemmbu when he barely had any resources?
Parrot bites his lip, the flesh almost bleeding out from the force before Theo pulls him back.
“We’ll—” Theo tries to speak, but Parrot interrupts him, beating him to it.
“We’ll try this again,” He starts, voice failing to conceal just how shaky his voice is. “In a few days. And you better show up.” Parrot points a finger at him, sharp claw aimed directly at Flame.
Flame rolled his eyes beneath his blindfold and crossed his arms. What were those blunt looking nails gonna do to him? Kill him?
He knows Parrot wouldn't be capable of such.
Flame watches Parrot and Theo spread their wings and soar through the sky.
And like a maniac, Flame starts bursting into fits of laughter before breaking down to quiet cries.
He wished Wemmbu was here, but at the same time, he wished Wemmbu wasn't. He knows he looks pathetic groveling on the sandy surface like this, but he could care less.
Flame’s fingers dug into the ground, grasping on it while the rest of his arm shook trying to hold himself up.
The pounding in his head was a constant reminder. Had been a constant reminder starting a month ago.
He’s thought of Wemmbu so much that his head was starting to hurt. Every single one of his feelings felt like it had to depend whether his leads would lead him to Wemmbu or not.
With how much time was passing without Wemmbu, Flame started to lose himself.
It’s like he was starting to revolve around Wemmbu’s existence, and it terrified him.
The fact that even though Wemmbu wasn't here, Flame still relied on the thought of him. Every lead made him feel high, every dead end made him feel like literal garbage.
Flame sits up with a shaky breath, rubbing the dust off his sleeves. He needed to prepare again and preferably, hide somewhere else with his gear so he could fight Wemmbu.
But when he does face Wemmbu, what is he gonna tell him?
Those unsent letters remained on his desk, cold and untouched. Flame had half the mind to wonder why he even wrote letters to Wemmbu when they weren’t gonna see the light of day.
But alas—he picks them up, stuffing them inside a shulker.
It’s been a while since he’s opened this shulker.
Lilacs that were on the verge of death, Wemmbu’s shield that was one hit away from breaking, a lot of scrunchies, and of course, pictures of important locations that “coincidentally” had Wemmbu in the captures too.
Flame doesn't want to acknowledge why he kept all these things.
He slams the shulker shut like how he shuts his thoughts about his rival up.
There was no hope in reasoning with someone as emotionally constipated as himself.
“He better show up…” Parrot said with gritted teeth while he shoves a stack of bones into Flame’s hands.
Flame takes them begrudgingly before he starts taming the wolves. The wolves whine at him, but Flame only gives them a quick pat on the head before shoving them deeper into the small enclosure.
Parrot then leads them to where they’d wait for Wemmbu.
Unbeknownst to him, his palms were sweating. He only notices when he fidgets with his fingers, every single second making his body feel like it’s being edged off a cliff.
“Why are you even going this far for him?” Parrot breaks the silence, standing in the middle of the platform.
Flame releases the breath he didn’t know he was holding. The platform below him felt too narrow, he felt the whispers of the void grow louder.
“I…” His mouth goes dry the more he thinks about Parrots question.
Why was he doing this?
“Honestly, Flame,” Parrots starts, hands behind his back while he paces around the platform in steady steps. “You remind me of Wifies.”
Flame tilts his head.
What did Wifies have to do with this? Wifies wasn’t as strong at fighting as him. Sure, Wifies was incredibly smart, but seeing as Parrot isn’t accompanied by him anymore, the man must’ve been too weak and died.
“No, he’s not dead because he was weak.” Flame’s train of thought was interrupted when Parrot started to speak again.
He sees the rise and fall of Parrot’s chest, watching intently as the avian sighed.
“I’m not sure how caught up you are on our lore, but—” Parrot pulls at the yinyang stitched to his cloak before continuing, “But I just want you to know that, the more you let yourself gravitate around Wemmbu’s life, the more it’ll just destroy you and him.”
“Bro, I’m literally not—” Parrot puts a hand up, and it actually shuts Flame up.
“Yes, you are.” Parrot walks closer to the edge, his steps echoing through the structure.
Flame starts to fidget with his hands again. Why was Parrot being so cryptic?
“I know this pattern, I know what’s gonna happen next if you don’t actually talk with Wemmbu after this and just fight him.”
Parrot’s communicator rings once, blinking a bright green.
“What’s stopping him from running away again after you fight him, Flame?”
Flame swallows a breath, feeling the pounding inside his head get stronger.
Parrot shoots him an exhausted look before raising both hands in surrender, saying whatever in response to Flame’s silence.
Then, the communicator starts to ring wildly before a loud vwoosh sound is heard.
The invisible knight appears in front of Flame. He could feel the pounding in his head disappear, heart heavy with hope.
He doesn’t take in whatever monologue Parrot had prepared. All he could think about was how: if Wemmbu was the invisible knight this whole time, then had he seen just how desperate Flame was to find him?
Flame doesn’t know if he should be pissed off at that, or be glad that Wemmbu was nearby no matter where he went.
“Flame, you can come out now.” Flame doesn’t hesitate to throw the pearl right in front of “Wemmbu”.
“Hey bro. Wemmbu.” He can’t stop grinning. Flame knows he should be angry at Wemmbu for making him run around the server like a headless chicken searching for him, but he couldn’t find the will to do so.
He circles around the invisible knight, and the man seemed flustered, looking everywhere but at Flame’s direction.
“You know, I’d have to give it to you guys. This was a really good trap.” Parrot covers his ears at the awful batman voicechanger, but Flame was hanging onto the man's every word.
“But I’m not Wemmbu.” The man claims. The sound of an elytra being equipped was loud before the invisible knight started to throw windchargers and fly away.
That escape would've been good under normal circumstances, but Flame specifically asked Parrot to make this place inescapable.
A hissing sound could be heard before mountains upon mountains of TNT exploded, coating the entire structure with lava.
No matter where he flew, there was lava.
“Come down here, bro!” Flame can’t contain the joy in his voice. He screamed: “Wemmbu” right into Parrot's ears when he saw his communicator notify him about the wolves he trapped earlier being killed by Wemmbu.
He doesn't notice how Parrot rolls his eyes and slips away, leaving it so that it was just him and Wemmbu in this prison.
Flame watches as Wemmbu glides down, standing on the platform at where he spawned earlier.
Bile threatened to rise up Flame’s throat. He didn't know why his stomach fluttered so hard when Wemmbu’s form materialised in front of him.
The warmth of his insides felt even worse when Wemmbu looked at him where his eyes lay behind his blindfold. Flame thinks he’s about to puke his heart out right now when Wemmbu looks at him.
Does Wemmbu hate him, does Wemmbu think he’s creepy for being so dead-set on looking for him?
Flame doesn’t think he cares anymore. If Wemmbu hated him, so be it. He didn’t come this far just for Wemmbu to ignore him. Any kind of attention from him was better than disappearing from his life completely.
“Lil’ bro over here was saying that he wasn’t Wemmbu a few seconds ago.” Wemmbu shoots him a glare before Flame feels a violent jolt in his body. The familiar vibrations he gets when Wemmbu lands his mace on him.
Flame doesn’t let up and throws pots over his head, letting the cold liquid seep into his skin before he charges at Wemmbu.
They exchange blows back and forth, Wemmbu’s mace hitting the hilt of Flame’s sword when he dives back down with the intent to injure Flame.
“You’re so—You’re so annoying, bro!” Wemmbu let out a whine when he heard his elytra breaking, falling fast onto the ground.
Flame doesn’t know when he moved from where he was standing, but he’s already running, dropping his beloved sword onto the ground, arms wide open.
Then, finally, his arms enclose around Wemmbu, catching him with no other thoughts in his head other than the fact that he needed to be close to Wemmbu.
“Wemmbu. Wemmbu—” Flame doesn’t let go of him, letting the two of them fall to the ground while he holds Wemmbu like his life depended on it, repeating his name over and over again like a broken record.
He feels how stiff Wemmbu was in his hold, but his heart starts to melt when that initial stiffness went away.
Wemmbu was relaxed in his arms, Wemmbu wasn’t pulling away, Wemmbu was—.
“Dude, chill out…” Flame almost whimpers at the cold fingers on his head before it feels them scratch at his scalp. He leans into it, chasing after Wemmbu’s touch.
It felt like every thread that held him back snapped. All he wanted was Wemmbu, all he needed was Wemmbu and nobody else.
If someone were to ever take Wemmbu from him, Flame wasn’t sure if he’d let the entire server live after that hypothetical scenario.
“Quit tellin’ me to chill out when you’re literally right here, bro.” Flame tightens his arms around Wemmbu’s torso.
If he had a tail, he was sure it’d be wagging by now. Good thing he didn’t, it’d mean that Wemmbu would see just how weak he was for him.
“Your ears are bright red, Flame. Just put the fries in the bag, bro. I literally know everything.”
Fuck. That was embarrassing.
“Bro… Can’t you at least pretend that you don’t?” Wemmbu laughs at his response, and it makes Flame feel like the luckiest man on this server.
He made Wemmbu laugh…
“Let’s fight later, show me those letters you were writing.”
Flame perks up at that, but he doesn't put in the work to actually get up and move.
He heard Wemmbu sigh, and Flame thinks it’s the prettiest sound ever. If he could, he’d have recorded that and set it as his lullaby to use every. Single. Day.
When Wemmbu eventually pushes him off, Flame feels like his entire world crumbled, and it was evident by the way he stayed kneeled on the ground like a kicked puppy.
“Pull the shulker out, bro. We’re reading them together.” Oh Wemmbu, you little minx. If Flame wasn't so whipped, he’d have gotten up and punched that smug smirk off of his gorgeous face.
“Fine, but you better not laugh bro. I swear…” Reluctantly, Flame puts down his enderchest and pulls out a purple shulker.
Wemmbu whistles when he gets a telltale of what was inside, quickly shoving Flame aside to take the neatly stacked envelopes on top of his old shield.
“You’ve kept these?” Wemmbu says slowly as if he was weighing his words. Flame doesn't like that, but he hangs onto every syllable.
He gauges at Wemmbu’s reaction, watching his face lift, watching how his eyes shine brighter when he spots stuff that he owned locked up away in this shulker.
But he doesn't ask, which Flame was grateful for.
And when Wemmbu finally opens one of the first few envelopes, Flame stops breathing, the pressure around him painfully crushing him.
The way Wemmbu tucks the loose strand of hair behind his ear, the way he licks his lips when he finally unfolds the paper and starts reading through it with furrowed brows like he was trying to decipher Flame’s writing.
Flame knows at this moment that it is over for him.
He could never win this, not even from way back. But he acknowledges it now. Accepts that his devotion for Wemmbu was simply there, seared and engraved into his bones.
When Wemmbu laughs while reading the letter, Flame smiles and slowly laughs along with him.
Before they both knew it, they were sitting side by side, Wemmbu nudging his arm whenever he read something he deemed hilarious.
“Oh my god– seriously..? “You’re the last person on my list who I’d care about”? Buddy…” Wemmbu cracked up a second time, clutching his stomach while Flame’s initial embarrassment grew.
“Bro–like, bro—” Flame stutters out, and Wemmbu just mimics him word for word before tackling Flame onto the ground.
“You’re not slick, bro.” Wemmbu teases, and Flame didn't have the drive to even look away from Wemmbu’s smile.
Gosh, he was just so pretty that Flame could—
Wemmbu beats him to it anyway, leaning down until their foreheads touch, breaths mingling with one another.
Flame doesn't stop Wemmbu from untying his blindfold.
It’s not that he can’t, it’s that he didn't want to.
“Please…” Flame doesn't even know what he’s begging for. He’s the immortal demon, he never needed to beg for something in his life.
But Wemmbu gave in anyway, tilting his head while both his hands caressed Flame’s cheek, thumb rubbing at Flame’s cheekbones.
Flame stares at the way Wemmbu flutters his eyelashes, hands tight around Wemmbu’s waist.
He doesn't hear Wemmbu wince in pain. All his brain registered was that Wemmbu was closing the gap between them, feeling the coldness on his lips.
And when Wemmbu pulls back, he lets out the most pathetic whine out to mankind, trying to raise his head to chase those lips he craved so much.
“That’s all you’re getting.” Wemmbu pushes him back on the floor by his chest, and Flame obeys despite knowing how easy it’d be to push Wemmbu off and pin him down.
But he doesn’t want that. He wants to live knowing that he had a chance with Wemmbu.
Day and night he’d think about this boy, wondering how he was doing, what he was doing, and the possibility of what they could be.
The thought of being able to hold Wemmbu after fights makes the world seem brighter. The thought itself felt better than any loot Flame manages to steal.
So he’ll wait, no matter how long it takes.