Chapter Text
The lights flickered,
Then everything went dark.
The sudden silence felt heavier than the alarms ever had.
The guard outside the door froze, shifting his stance slightly as he muttered something Parrot couldn’t quite make out, his voice low and uncertain.
Parrot froze.
For a split second, everything felt suspended.
Then,
click…
The sharp, mechanical sound of a piston retracting echoed through the cell. It was quiet, but in the darkness, it felt impossibly loud. Slowly, the wall behind him began to slide open, grinding softly as hidden mechanisms activated.
A faint line of light spilled into the cell.
Inside sat a shulker box.
Packed.
Weapons. Food. Armour, far better than what he was stuck with.
Someone had put it there.
The thought hit him instantly, but there was no time to question it, no time to hesitate or overthink.
This was his chance.
And he wasn’t wasting it.
He grabbed what he needed quickly, hands moving with urgency, stuffing items into his inventory before bolting through the opening. The moment he crossed into the hidden passage behind the cells, the air felt different, colder and tighter.
His footsteps echoed as he ran, louder than he wanted, but he didn’t dare slow down.
At the end of the narrow tunnel, he spotted a reinforced door, its surface dull and heavy even in the dim light.
Parrot lifted his crossbow, steadying his aim despite the tension running through him. His breathing was uneven, but his hands stayed firm.
The arrow flew, cutting straight through the flickering flame,
striking the TNT he had placed moments earlier.
For half a second,
nothing.
Then the explosion tore through the silence.
The blast rattled the prison walls, sending debris outward as the reinforced door was blown open, a jagged hole punched straight through it.
Parrot didn’t stop running.
The copper armour clung to him, heavy and unyielding, the Curse of Binding making it impossible to remove. Every step felt weighed down, every movement slightly slower than it should have been. A faint dizziness crept in the longer he pushed himself.
Still,
he kept going.
He retraced the path he had been forced to walk when they first dragged him in, the memory guiding his steps even as everything blurred slightly at the edges.
Red lights suddenly flared back to life, flooding the corridors with harsh illumination.
Then,
Footsteps.
Voices.
Shouting.
They were coming.
Parrot’s hand tightened into a fist for a brief second before he forced himself forward again.
Suddenly, the familiar draining weight crashed over him,
Mining Fatigue.
It hit hard, slowing his movements, making everything feel heavier.
The elder guardians.
They had activated the effect again.
Parrot gritted his teeth, pushing through it.
He glanced down the corridor, breathing hard, chest rising and falling rapidly.
He didn’t have much time.
Above him, he could hear the footsteps getting louder, closer now, echoing down from the levels above. The sound bounced through the structure, disorienting, but unmistakable.
Quickly, he moved to the side and placed blocks in front of himself, working as fast as the Mining Fatigue would allow. The makeshift cover blended just enough with the surroundings to break his outline.
He stilled.
As he expected, the group of players rushed past him, their attention fixed forward, too focused on the obvious escape route. Their armour clanked, their voices overlapping as they moved.
None of them stopped.
None of them noticed.
The second they were gone, Parrot moved again.
He splashed a potion of invisibility, the glass shattering quietly as the effect took hold. His form faded, but the armour remained visible, a constant risk.
Still, it was enough.
Enough to hide his nametag.
Enough to confuse them.
Enough to survive.
He bolted toward the stairs, taking them quickly despite the weight dragging at him. Each step was slightly slower than he wanted, but fast enough to keep distance.
He didn’t stop.
He couldn’t.
At the top, he spotted a large window, one of the outer viewing points.
Freedom.
Or at least, closer to it.
Without hesitating, he placed a rail, then quickly set TNT on top of it. His movements were rushed but precise. A flame flickered to life in front of it.
He raised his crossbow again.
And fired.
The bolt struck true.
The explosion shattered the window outward in a burst of noise and glass, sending fragments scattering into the air.
Parrot ran straight through the opening.
Behind him,
voices shouted.
A few lawmen had spotted him.
He didn’t look back.
He could hear them calling out, orders and warnings, but none of it mattered. None of it slowed him down.
He kept running.
He climbed a guard tower, taking the steps quickly, gripping the railing as the dizziness pressed in harder now. His movements were rougher, less controlled, but still determined.
Using the Mining Fatigue to his advantage, he threw blocks behind him as he climbed, placing obstacles just enough to disrupt the players chasing him.
It slowed them.
Not much,
but enough.
He reached the top of the tower, not breaking stride as he vaulted over the railing.
For a brief moment,
he fell.
Then,
water splashed beneath him.
A perfect water bucket clutch.
He hit the ground safely and immediately pulled the water back, already moving again.
No pause.
No hesitation.
Just running.
He kept running and running, his breaths growing ragged, each inhale sharper than the last. His vision blurred slightly at the edges as exhaustion started catching up to him.
But he couldn’t stop.
Stopping meant getting caught.
And getting caught wasn’t an option.
Parrot muttered to himself between breaths, his voice rough and quiet, barely steady,
“Lettuce probably sent someone to try and find me…”
A faint, tired smirk crossed his face despite everything.
“…but let’s be optimistic.”