Chapter Text
“They’re coming. He’s coming.”
They’re coming.
He’s coming.
All Parrot could do is run.
All he ever did was run.
Run from his mistakes, his failures, his collapsing kingdom.
His friends, one dying after another. Because of him.
Sometimes at night, he’d replay the memories of them. He thought he cherished his friends, valued their friendship and the trust they’d given to him.
He didn’t want to face the harsh truth. Maybe he’d never really cared for them. That he’d only used friendship as an excuse to use them as his shield. That if he’d actually cared, then he’d have saved them.
His first real friendship ended the same way. Dead and blown up.
Proving that he didn’t deserve to have friends. He would be killing them by his presence in their life.
Such a coward, little birdy.
Parrot swallowed the bile that rose in his throat from the panic.
Run, run, run.
He had to leave. Run. Sprint. Crawl, even. He would’ve flown if his wings still worked.
“Go, go go!” Theo yelled as they fled their temporary little camp. “It’s Shoebilly!”
It’s Shoebilly. A stronger, infinitely better person than Parrot.
He couldn’t help but idolise Billy, despite the guy working for Saparata.
Was it his lack of friends, or raw skill that made him a better person in general?
“I’ll protect you while you and Reina run!” Theo called.
No, no, no. He couldn’t do that.
He couldn’t stand by and watch while Theo could be in danger, or rather, more likely to be killed than usual.
“I can’t let you do that!” he tried to argue, trying to steady his sword despite his shaking hands.
At that moment, Shoebilly changed course, diving straight for Parrot.
He dodged, but the impact left a hole in the ground, exactly where he was a second ago.
Billy’s next hit missed him by a hair’s breadth, only because Theo had shoved him out of the way and deflected his hit with his sword.
“He’s targeting you!” Theo warned, as the next hit barely missed Parrot. “You gotta go now!”
He couldn’t go. He couldn’t let him die.
But when the next strike clipped his shoulder, he went down painfully.
Reina stretched out a hand, and she helped him up, dragging him away from where Theo was defending their escape.
“I’LL FIND YOU LATER!” he yelled as the sounds of battle became softer and softer, until it was nothing but silence and their ragged panting.
Shoebilly circled Theo, occasionally taking flight, and swooping in on him with attacks that he was barely able to dodge.
“Your friends already left you,” Billy called, attacking him suddenly. “They don’t want you anymore,”
“Shut up!” he yelled back angrily, swatting at him with his sword. “He said he’ll come back once I finish you!”
Billy let out a pitying smirk. “He’ll say that, and he won’t come back, Theo.”
“Yes he will!”
“You don’t understand.”
He flew down, but made no attempts to attack him. Theo glared at him, wings ruffled offendedly.
“I’m going to tell you the truth,” Shoebilly said coolly.
“THERE IS NO TRUTH!” Theo shouted, shooting an arrow at him, which he caught.
“Your friend has already replaced you,”
He seethed with rage, staring daggers at Shoebilly.
Parrot wouldn’t do that. Parrot was kind, wise, gentle, and loyal. Parrot was his best friend, after all.
Or was he?
The question that had sat quietly at the back of his mind flared up like a fire.
He’d always considered Parrot as his best friend. But did Parrot think of him that way as well?
In all the days they’d spent together, in battle or in the lazy evenings, sipping hot cocoa and talking about their friends, did Parrot ever consider Theo as his best friend?
Because he’d always had a worry.
A hunch that made him think—no, that he knew—that perhaps Parrot didn’t think that.
That there was still someone between them. The someone that had dug its own hole in Parrot’s heart, a shape that Theo could never fill.
Wifies.
Even if he was dead, he’d never be truly gone, because maybe Parrot would never get over him.
Wifies was the only person that had stayed for him when even Theo had left. Wifies was closer to Parrot than he could ever be, and Wifies could be the wedge that drove them apart.
No. Parrot wouldn’t do that. Surely he was already over him, right?
Theo couldn’t let Shoebilly in his head. Parrot would come back for him. Parrot wouldn’t replace him.
Seeing him pause, Billy continued.
“Why else did he tell you to train Reina? Why else would he have her to represent him in that little bandit cave? He’s decided you’re too far gone to be ‘friends’ with.”
He paused for a moment. “This would just be a convenient excuse for him to get rid of you.”
Parrot wouldn’t do that. No, no, no he wouldn’t he wouldn’t he wouldn’t he wouldn’t…
“Y’know, I’m not entirely loyal to the likes of Saparata. I don’t get paid enough to do that. I’m only here because Saps sent me to kill you, Parrot, and that useless new player so he won’t have to pay the massive bounty he set on his head.
Which means that I could take you in again. The bounty is only for Parrot, after all, and the worthless little new player–Reina–shouldn’t have existed at all. You’re just an obstacle between me and my goal, and you should kindly step out of the way and join me.”
Join me.
Did this old quack really believe that his loyalty was only a grain of sand?
“Absolutely fucking not,” Theo snapped. “In no universe will I ever do that.”
“Then when Parrot inevitably kills you himself, or with his curse, your ghost will come crying back to me.”
He let that sit for a moment, but continued again, softer.
“Or…you can come back to me, student. We can be stronger together. We can do whatever we want. Neither of us dies, and your traitorous friend can live far away, where he won’t hurt you-”
“Wait,” Theo interrupted. “What curse?”
“Oh,” Shoebilly clarified. “The Parrot curse. Have you ever wondered why all of Parrot’s friends have died? First we had Luigi, then Dean, Nufuli, Wifies, Spepticle…blah blah blah. There’s thirteen ‘friends’ of Parrot that died. Do you think that is a coincidence? Will you be his next victim? Think about it, Theo. You can try all you like, but Parrot’s never going to think of you as his best friend. You’re the next best thing to a ghost. And one day, one way or another, he’s going to kill you.”
The cold feeling sank in as Billy talked.
He didn’t want to believe it.
But here was the evidence. He’d known some of these people before they died. And he hadn’t even connected the dots.
Maybe Billy was right.
Maybe Parrot never thought of him that way.
Maybe he was just a friend. Nothing closer than that. Not even a ‘best friend’.
The next best thing to a ghost.
That line haunted him more than the rest of his speech.
A ghost. A person who didn’t really exist, or not anymore.
He felt like he finally understood Parrot, in a cruel, sickening way instead of a happy one.
The way Parrot stared at him, the way he looked like he was searching for something in Theo’s eyes, the crushing disappointment when he couldn’t find whatever he was searching for.
“But I’ll never abandon you. I will always protect you and teach you. We could be better off, happier without parrot weighing you down and making sure that you think he’s your friend, but in reality he’s just acting like he needs you. Because if the curse doesn’t catch you, it’ll backfire on himself, and the best of both worlds is to leave. Anyways,
We both know you’re better off without him.”
“So…” Theo started, “Basically you’re offering me two options: Join you or die.”
“By either me or your friends,” Billy said smoothly. “Yes.”
“I…don’t want to die yet,” he cast a look over his shoulder, in the direction where Parrot disappeared.
“I don’t want you to die either,”
“Neither do I.”
They stood in silence for a moment.
“But he’s going to kill me, and all I can do to protect both of us is leave.”
That came out more like a question.
“Yes,” Billy confirmed, and stretched out a hand.
Offering.
Theo took it.
I’m sorry, Parrot.
It was dawn by the time that Parrot hesitantly stepped into the clearing where he had fled.
A day had gone by, with no signs of Theo coming to find them. So he and Reina had traveled back to their old camp to find him.
The ground was littered with holes. That was the first thing that he noticed.
Small, dying flames and broken arrows lay scattered amidst the once-tall grass, now reduced to dirt.
What the-?
That wasn’t as important.
Where was Theo?
He promised to come back. He’d come back, and he was gone.
But that wasn’t a Theo thing to do. He was loyal, funny, brave, and strong. He wouldn’t just leave.
A small part of his mind answered the ‘Why?’ almost immediately. The nagging worry he’d dismissed since the beginning resurfaced, stronger than ever.
Maybe he realised that you’re not good for him.
Maybe he saw the pattern, and left to protect himself.
Maybe you’re secretly thankful that he left, so he’s safe now.
Maybe it was correct. He did feel grateful that Theo left.
He didn’t want to kill another friend, just by being close with them. Because he’d seen the pattern as well.
And perhaps that was the better option for Theo.
No. He couldn’t think of these things.
Theo wouldn’t just leave. He had to trust him.
Then where was Theo? Could he have gotten lost? Could he be in danger?
Could he have died protecting them?
But the evidence suggested otherwise.
Two trails of footprints led to a small worn path.
Two. Not one.
Theo had left. Willingly, it seemed.
But why? Why would Theo leave?
No. He needed to stay positive. Maybe Theo was forced to go with Shoebilly.
Yes, definitely against his will.
He looked around, noticing a small book placed carefully in the middle of the field. He quietly jogged over, despite the deserted clearing.
Dear Parrot,
I dnot now
laeve em alnoe
Stpo
sory
I htae yuo so muh bccoz
I’m sorry. I can’t.
I don’t want to die.
I hate you. I always have. I’m not even your best friend, you still can’t get over him.
Shoebilly will protect me. He can be the best friend I never was to you.
I’m sorry.
Don’t try to find me. Good luck.
Theo.
What? Just…like that?
Just like that.
He was right. Theo left.
Gone.
He hated Parrot.
He thought that he wasn’t Parrot’s best friend. Because he’d never gotten over…Wifies.
Wifies. His old, closest, dead friend. Versus Theo, the person who’d been with him all along.
Of course he’d choose Theo. There was no point keeping alive the memories of somebody who’d died long ago. He was supposed to remember the kind, caring Wifies, not grieve a dead best friend.
But that wasn’t what Theo thought.
Theo believed that Parrot was still not over him. Theo believed that Parrot never thought of him as a friend, just a convenience. Someone to be used. Someone that didn’t deserve the title of ‘Best Friend’.
But he was, he absolutely was.
They’d gone through so much together, war and peace and everything in between, and Parrot had made him think that he didn’t even come close to somebody ‘worthy’ of his friendship.
Parrot was a terrible friend. Theo deserved to leave. Staying would only be enduring more of his toxic friendship, which if he were friends with someone like himself, he wouldn’t stand it either.
He couldn’t even say ‘betrayed’. Because Theo had done nothing wrong, except save himself.
And Parrot couldn’t even be mad about that. He’d wanted Theo to leave, after all.
But he hadn’t expected Theo to actually leave.
“Ohmigods…” he whispered, flipping the book cover to cover, trying to find something that reassured him that it was all a joke, or an extremely unfunny elaborate prank.
There, on the last page.
Turstt em
–The real biggest bird.
…what?
‘Trust me’?
Why should Parrot trust him after he’d just left? In what universe?
But this was Theo. He wouldn’t leave without a reason.
He had to trust him.
Parrot walked slowly back to their camp. Reina had set up a small base, big enough for two to live in but sheltered enough so Saparata’s soldiers wouldn’t recognise them from afar
“Where’s Theo?” she asked as he navigated the obscure but effective traps she’d set around the base.
“He…” Parrot couldn’t finish the sentence.
A lump grew in his throat as he watched Reina finish cleaning up the base.
“I’ll do the washing,” he offered; he needed something else to think about.
“M’kay,” she replied and led him inside the little hut, where she threw herself onto a bed dramatically.
“So,” Reina continued. “Where is he?”
“He’s…” he tried to form the words. “He’s gone.”
“Gone? What do you mean?”
“He left us.”
His voice sounded hollow.
“Left us?” Reina echoed.
Parrot nodded.
It seemed like she couldn’t process it either.
She stood up and straightened herself, smoothing the wrinkles from her coat.
“We got to go get him back.”
“He left for a reason, Reina,”
She turned around. “What reason?”
“My curse.”
Reina frowned, her brow wrinkling in confusion.“Explain,” she demanded.
He took a deep breath.
“I don’t know why this always happens, but all the people I’ve been friends with just die. I don’t know what caused it, or if there even is a connection between them, but there’s just too many deaths to be a coincidence. Dean…Wifies…Spepticle...they’re all gone because of me,”
His voice was thick with emotion.
“I get if you want to leave. I won’t stop you.”
She stared in confusion.
“Are you stupid? I’m not going to just leave you here. You saved my life, and it’s time I pay you back.”
The room held its breath for a moment.
“Parrot,” she continued, softer. “We, are going to get Theo back. Don’t worry.”
And she patted his hand and walked away, leaving him sitting on the bed.
The sun was losing its battle in the sky as the moon rose imperiously above. Parrot and Reina had taken the cover of night to make their journey to wherever Shoebilly resided before Saps hired him.
“I think it’s somewhere around here,” Parrot muttered, navigating the dense forest-y terrain by the light of the lantern that hung at his waist. “Theo showed me where it was once. We griefed it and ran.”
“That’s nice,” Reina replied distractedly, stepping over thick, twisting roots and the bones of dead animals.
A few hundred meters away she spotted a gap in the hanging vines and low branches, and immediately nudged Parrot.
“Shh!” she warned. “I think we found his base.”
“I don’t really know what we should do with this,” he confessed.
“We go in, get Theo, go out,” she answered as if it were obvious.
He nodded in agreement, and muted his mic.
From the view at the edge of the little clearing stood a two-storey house. It wasn’t fancy, given it was a small house, but the strategically planted flowers and the clean-cut ivy that decorated the wooden exterior proved that it was lived in, and that it was home to someone.
The someone in question being the person who’d taken Theo.
The windows of the downstairs were dim, but he could see, clearly, a dinner table set with clean cloth and napkins, and a steaming pot of soup on the counter. The upstairs lights were on, though, where an instantly recognisable person with striking yellow wings, sat at the window, half-preened wings hanging awkwardly behind their stool, pen scratching at a book. Occasionally, they’d pause and gaze into the dark forest and night sky, then return to writing.
Of course, if they’d looked to the corner of the window, they’d spot Parrot and Reina cowering in the low-hanging branches at the edge of the forest.
Movement caught his eye downstairs. Another figure stood at the kitchen, rearranging the sunflowers in the vase and setting the table, their wings folded neatly behind their back. Plates were laid out, food was ladled into bowls, the tangible mouth-watering smell wafting out through the semi-open window. He could practically taste the soup on his tongue, his stomach growled loudly.
Reina elbowed him, and he glanced at her abashedly.
The grey-winged person set down the pot, and walked upstairs, momentarily disappearing before reappearing again in the window of the upstairs room, and they looked like they were talking.
“He’s saying something about writing,” Reina whispered.
“How do you know that?”
“I learnt to lip-read after some players at Spawn didn’t have mics,”
“Cool, what’re they saying though?”
She took a deep breath.
“ ‘Have you finished your spelling practice?’
‘No, I don’t know how to spell this word.’ ”
Theo showed Shoebilly something on the page, and Shoebilly wrote something down.
“ ‘Oh, I didn’t know it was spelt like that.’
‘English is a fascinating language. Anyways, dinner is ready and we have guests. Do you need help with preening or will you do that later?’
‘I’ll do it later. Who are the guests?’
‘You’ll see.’ “
And with that, Shoebilly disappeared from Theo’s room, Theo following a moment later.
The door opened. Shoebilly stood at the open door, staring directly at the patch of foliage where they hid.
“Come out. Dinner’s ready.”
Parrot made a quiet squeak of terror.
“I said come out, Parrot. I can see you.”
Slowly, he and Reina emerged from the shadows. Shoebilly snorted unimpressedly.
“You two look scrawny,” he observed.
“Give us Theo back,” Reina threatened.
“HA!” he let out a burst of laughter. “At least don’t look like you're on the edge of starvation before you threaten someone. Let’s eat before we make some rash, unwanted decision, shall we?”
He stepped aside as they entered the house cautiously.
Parrot’s first thought was that it was a trap. Surely, using Theo as bait to lure them into a safehouse and kill them.
But the truly delicious soup did not lie. He didn’t care if there was poison in the soup, because it was the best last meal he could ever have.
But there was no trap, as he stuffed himself full of food. Reina downed two bowls, as Theo picked at it.
“Be a good host,” Shoebilly chided lightly.
Reina set down her bowl with a clang of ceramic.
“Back to the reason we came here. Give back Theo.”
Billy raised an eyebrow. “Well that was sudden,”
Parrot sipped from his spoon, relishing the taste.
“Back me up, Parrot,” she snapped. He looked at her pitifully, then looked at the food, then back up again.
“Uhh…can we have Theo now? Please?”
Shoebilly turned to Theo, making him shift uncomfortably in his seat.
“You see, Theo? They treat you like an object to be returned, while I treat you like a person.”
“That is not what I meant-” Reina interjected, but Theo wouldn’t meet her eyes.
The silence that followed was stifling, and the food didn’t smell as appetizing as before.
“Theo, don’t you want to come back to us?” Parrot pleaded.
“I…I dunno…” he mumbled in reply, turning to Shoebilly, as if silently willing him to respond for him.
“Theo you have to come back with us!” she urged.
Shoebilly smirked, and she glared at him.
“He evidently,” he noted mockingly. “Doesn’t want to. Or are you going to force him?”
“We’re not forcing anyone,” she stated coldly. “He wants to come back with us, don’t you?”
“Then let him decide.”
They all turned to Theo.
“Say it,” Billy pressured.
“I–no–I don’t want to…” he faltered as he fiddled with the tablecloth.
“Then you’ve heard his answer.”
Reina fell silent.
“Parrot,” Theo addressed, for the first time that night. “Please. Go.”
“Not without you,” he responded firmly. “Say it. Say it in your own words that you don’t want to go with us. Because I know that you didn’t write that letter. You can’t even spell, for fucks sake”
He hesitated, glancing at Billy, who shrugged. “Go on.”
“I want you to leave. I want you to go without me.”
Parrot seemed taken aback, but nodded with acceptance.
“Thank you,” he said kindly. “For telling me. I won’t force you to come with us.”
Reina sighed in defeat, Shoebilly likewise in triumph.
“Okay,” she offered . “We’ll leave now.”
“Wait ‘till dawn,” Billy advised, examining his nails and putting down his fork. “I won’t have to start killing you until around midday, when Saparata comes around.”
“I…” Parrot seemed at a loss for words, at Billy’s sudden niceness. “Thank you.”
“Go take a hot shower,” the older grey bird suggested. “You can sleep in the guest rooms.”
“Thanks,”
The next day they woke at dawn. The morning felt quick–-Reina zipped around, shoving their scarce belongings and the clothes that Billy had given them in a bag. Billy fussed at them like an overprotective mother, which Parrot secretly enjoyed. It was nice to have someone worry about them, someone who fed them delicious food and gave them clean clothes. Theo spent the time snoring away in his own room but he was dragged to the door by Billy to say goodbye as Parrot and Reina prepared to leave.
The trip back home felt smoother, probably because it was daytime, and they had new boots instead of worn-out sneakers.
The small base which they had set camp in before was still ungriefed, tucked away in the little corner of the forest. As they prepared to go back, Reina dragged Parrot down.
“There’s a light in the window,” she whispered, and she was right; there, indeed, was a lit candle, burning away at the glass pane. “Someone’s there,”
Parrot pulled out his spyglass, checking the nametags of the players in their base.
“It’s alright,” he observed. “It’s just Jumper and Mapicc. We’re friends, we fought the Law together.”
“Ok,” she responded anxiously.
He had barely opened the door before Mapicc pounced on him.
“Parrot!” he exclaimed, hugging him quickly. “And this is…?”
“Reina,” Parrot replied. “She’s a friend.”
“Oh.”
Jumper was chatting with Reina, but then they waved at them to sit down.
“What happened to you guys?” Parrot asked as soon as they sat.
“Long story,” Jumper said dismissively. “What about you?”
“We kinda pissed off Cindercrest by existing,” Reina said. “Saps wants to kill us, Parrot has a bounty on his head, Theo left us, and we found out that Shoebilly makes awesome soup. But what about you guys?”
“Uh,” Mapicc faltered. “Jumper can explain.”
She gave Mapicc a look that froze both Parrot and Mapicc in their seats, but she continued:
“After defeating the Law, Spoke realised that Mapicc went missing, and we started getting hunted down by soldiers with full netherite, black skins and jumbled letters for names. Mapicc came back, we were chased into the farlands, and met JamatoP, who turned out to be the leader of Null, and who Spoke tried to kill and we were mad at him for doing so but he was actually telling us the truth. Jamato kidnapped us and sent us to a prison for criminals called Purgatory, and forced us to compete in a Hunger Games–type shitty game where most of the prisoners died. After the game we got sent back to the prison and that’s when we realised—Spoke was missing. We heard rumors that Spoke had escaped so we escaped and met King Saparata who gave us gear and shelter. Which brings us here now.”
“...wow,”
“Yeah,” Mapicc shrugged. “At least we’re alive. By the way, have you seen Spoke?”
“I haven’t seen him since the Law battle.”
“Oh. I was hoping you’d know where he is.”
“Sorry.”
The room paused again, Parrot’s silence seemingly answering all of Jumper and Mapicc’s questions.
“So…even if you’re not king anymore, can you come with us? You’re pretty good at convincing people, and we’re trying to make an army and find Spoke to rescue all the prisoners in Purgatory,”
Reina chimed in. “Of course!”
“We barely have anything to do except keep running from Cindercrest,” Parrot agreed.
Mapicc beamed at them.
“Perfect.”