Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“The time has come” Etho announced to his friend as he reached to one of his pockets, pulling out a shiny, yet familiar golden clock, and handing it to Bdubs.
He immediately put the shovel he was holding down, and grabbed the clock in glee, his eyes - currently a pale yellow - shining.
Yellow didn’t really fit Bdubs, with his moss-like jacket and his dark brown hair.

In Last Life, everyone had a concrete amount of lives - an amount that could fluctuate, according to the person’s actions.
And not everyone started with the same amount, some started with two lives - their eyes a pale, scared yellow.
Some started with three lives - a kind, loving light green in their eyes, and others, with four, five and even six lives - their eyes glowing a dark, confident green.
But, as both Bdubs and Etho knew very well, actions have consequences.
Any of the 17 - now 14, as Solidarity, Mumbo and Skizzle had been already murdered, down to no lives - could lose lives, and turn red: scary, aggressive, but possible.
So possible that Bdubs had already been down to red life twice.
But Etho didn’t like to think about how “third time’s the charm”.

The boogeyman - or boogeyperson, was also something to fear. Each day, a random amount of non-red lives would be chosen, to fulfill an objective, and one only: a boogieperson has to take a life from someone else to be cured from it.
If they are to fail, they will have to see themself turn to a red life, with a single life remaining.
Both Bdubs and Etho had already been there, done that, both twice.
And by the looks of it, Martyn was it right now, according to now red life Grian.

“Oh baby! It’s clock time!” Bdubs exclaimed excitedly, as Tango walked in from Etho’s left hand side “I’m ready.”
And all three laughed, one last time.

-

“Where’s Etho?”
He was sitting on the edge of the tallest tower at the snow fort that was B.E.S.T. base; from there, bow in hand, he could see the hills and tall spruce trees that surrounded the place, his allies walking around the soul sand path they had built inside and on the walls of the fort, and over all, the pretty, blue sky. “I’m over here.” he answered, calmly.
His almost white hair, his sleeveless dark green jacket, and black mask all shone under the sun. It was hard to miss him in the distance.
“Oh, okay - how many tnt’s you got?” said Tango from the base of the tower.
Etho counted. “I got… 10.”
“Okay, i got 8.”
Etho stood up on top of the tower. “How ‘bout… Do you wanna arm the walls?”
Tango didn’t get a chance to answer. His blond hair and dark gray vest would remain the next time they saw each other, but his eyes would turn the bright, aggressive red they all knew well.

“People coming in!” Bdubs shouted; following him, a deafening explosion.
Chaos followed, as the outer walls and part of the paths in the fort blew up, and with them, their trusted, yellow life ally, Tango.
Etho sought for the culprit, finding a triumphant Martyn running to see the explosion he himself had caused. Light blond hair, green bandana around his forehead and an equally green t-shirt on the dark wood path.
“Oh it’s Martyn!” he shouted, partially in disbelief, and partially guilty; Grian had warned them all about Martyn, not even hours ago.
“Martyn?!” Bdubs shouted back, not knowing what to do.
“He got the boogie kill!” the silver haired one said, letting a chuckle out - how dumb of him.
“He did it? Did he get Tango?”
“Tango, yeah! He trapped him.” None of them were ever careful, were they?
“Wait a second - Martyn?” He asked to the air, to someone who wasn’t there; to the one who ripped his ally’s life down to red.
“He’s gone! He ‘enderpearled’ out of here - Dude! LOOK AT THIS PLACE!” Bdubs didn’t lower his voice as Etho walked along the walls, on the soul sand path they had built.
“Oh my goodness.” he sighed “Well, congrats’ to Martyn, that was pretty good…”
Bdubs was still in disbelief, but he still nodded, following his friend along the path.

This situation was quite funny to Etho; the southlander - if that was a place someone could belong to anymore - had trapped Tango whilst he was setting up yet another trap.
There were really no good people left. No kind, generous ones.
Everyone did everything in hand to survive now - no risks can be taken for others.
And that was amusing, to Etho at least.

After that loss, all the remaining B.E.S.T. team members could do was attempt to patch the uncountable holes they had in their walls and floor.
Snow had never been a strong material, and it seemed to resemble the ties between the original four of them, but none of them liked that comparison.

Then, yet another explosion went off, tearing down an entire corner of their walls.
Both Etho and Bdubs ran to the origin, expecting to see the culprit.
“The trap got ‘em!” said Etho, even though there was no trace of life in the crater that had just appeared.
“Yeah! We got you!” Bdubs exclaimed, confident - the unknown person who had just set the trap off can’t be far. They both searched around the area, curiosity growing to replace the confidence.
“Show yourself!” ordered the one with silver hair, his light green eye scouting the trees nearby - as the other was damaged, its color remained stuck in a permanent red; a reminder of a similar, yet wildly different situation: that time they all started with three lives; that time he was allied with Rendog and Martyn; that time he lived in a wool fort above a swamp.
That time he died for good.

But it didn’t matter, or not anymore. He was alive again, and that was the important part.
And he had no time to question why he had to go through the same thing - the same game, yet a different one, twice.

“We got you! Aha!” Bdubs’ voice pulled him out of his own thoughts.
He turned around, seeing his now exposed sugar cane farm, and ran in.
“They’re hiding around here somewhere” he assured both Bdubs and himself, squeezing through the canes. And yet again, no one to be found; he exited the room, his hopes still somewhat up.
“It has to be Ren, I’m sure of it!” Bdubs thought out loud.
“Ren? Why’s- Ren’s a green name” said the taller one, partially confused.
“...Maybe it wasn’t Ren… Maybe he was just tryna’ swing by” the one with the moss coat chuckled.

And so, they went inside their barely standing home, looking at the total damage it had received in such little time.
“This is fine, we can rebuild this, it’s fine” Bdubs assured, following Etho up the destroyed tower - or what was left of it, anyway.
“I’m- I’m not building anymore. I’m done building” the other one sighed; Bdubs’ answer was to smile, then unsuccessfully trying not to laugh.
In times of despair, all they could do was laugh at each other’s misfortunes.
“It’s so much snow, Bdubs! No way I'm collecting all of it up again!” they both laugh.
“Let’s just go back to the snowman! It’ll be fine!”
“Let’s start all over…!” Etho replied, mocking playfully.

Some time passed - Etho was now at the destroyed wall, with small chunks of cobblestone in hand, ready to patch it up somewhat.
From above one of the towers, Bdubs spoke.
“All the chickens are dead… so our feather supply is gone.” his voice was getting closer as he walked towards his friend, with bits of cobbled deepslate in hand and ready to help out.
Suddenly, the one in the moss-like jacket shot a wary look at his silver haired friend.
“I hear- I hear Impulse. I hear him.”

There was no time.
Etho heard how something sank into what he recognized as soul sand, but it was too late.
A loud crack, only heard when a certain monster has been summoned, made the entire fort rumble. Before he could see what was happening, the vibration on his and three other communication devices nearby confirmed it for him.
‘Withering Heights.’
Etho turned around.
The Wither itself stood in the middle of his decaying home, ready to tear down every bit it had left. Beside it, the cause of its summoning: Impulse and Grian, both on their red and last life, running away from the beast before it gained consciousness.
Etho attempted to shoot either of them before they went out of sight, as retaliation, but none of the arrows hit them.
Fear was brewing up in him.
“Bdubs! Follow me!” He shouted, running up the stairs to the first and original tower and climbing up to the soul sand path on top of the walls of the fort.
An explosion and the unmistakable sound of the Wither followed his words.
“What do we do?” His green eye sporadically searched for an exit, an escape.
“Uh… Eat an apple. Eat an apple!” his yellow-eyed friend replied.
An apple - or what Bdubs was talking about, Golden Apples - had special properties: short-lasting ability to cure oneself, known as Regeneration; and a boost in physical resistance against damage, known as Absorption.

Etho turned around, weirded out by the fact that silence was ruling over the place.
He’d expected explosions to drown out his voice, but instead, the wither was floating still in its place, like it hadn’t seen either of them yet.
“...The Wither’s not doing anything.”
“It’s not? Okay, good!”
“Do not go to the middle. Do not go to the middle, Bdubs.” he advised, knowing what his friend was thinking.
But his friend wasn’t going to follow his steps, not this time.
“I have regen’ and an apple, I’m doing it!” Bdubs grabs a single arrow and prepares to shoot, but Etho blocks him with his arm.
“I think we gotta leave.”
“We gotta leave?” the yellow one repeated, not understanding why.
“...I think so.”
“I think we- I think i can kill it! I got an apple and regen’!” he insisted, pushing his friend’s arm down and stepping forward, all the way to the edge of the wall.
“No! You’re crazy, man-” Etho kept looking out to the forest - it was the best time to leave!
How the hell could Bdubs think he could defeat a Wither? With the trash armor he had?!
“I could win! I can do this!” and a single arrow was shot towards the beast.

The arrow missed, but it was enough to get the Wither to float upwards, aggravated by the sound of something attacking it.
Lucky for them both, it wasn’t them who it had seen, but Grian and Impulse, who had stayed around to witness them struggle with the monster.
“It’s going for them!” shouted Bdubs, in disbelief “There they are! I see them!”
Etho could also see their panicked current enemies running away from the fort, as explosions had started to go up behind them.
Almost amusing.
Almost, because the monster turned around, only to start shooting what looked like energy rays at his dogs, right in front of him. The sound of pain the dogs let out, after collapsing to suffer a slow, painful death, tore his heart to pieces.
And yet, one of his dogs, injured to no end, ran as fast as it could towards him, tail at an all time low. And the Wither saw.
It saw, starting to float towards him.
It saw, and it was going to kill him.

He glanced at Bdubs, who was also looking at him in mild panic; sweat had appeared on his forehead.
“...Are we fighting it? Is that actually the plan here…?” Etho wasn’t convinced, at all.
“The Wither?”
An explosion told them to leave the questions for later, compelling them to run away from the beast to a safer place. That, or fighting to death. But Etho still didn’t want that.
He still didn’t think it was worth the risk.
“I need your guidance, leader!” he said, while running to safety - the false sense of it, at least. Every word he said was drowned by explosions.
“I think- I just think we have to!” screamed Bdubs, the monster aiming directly at him.

He wasn’t going to make it out alone, Etho thought. He needed to help him, he thought.
And because that’s what he thought, he ran out of the small roof he was hiding under, bow and arrows in hand - and began shooting at the Wither.
The Wither, now that Etho could get a good look at it, was made of the ribs and spine or a Wither Skeleton, but with three heads instead of one; as well as being three times bigger than an average skeleton.
Above its middle head, a bright purple halo showed how healthy it was; the more they injured it, the more purple that would get replaced by an almost light consuming black.
Arrows were a tough weapon to use; against a skeleton like that, where some would go right between its ribs, hitting nothing, or barely making any damage at all, really.

After a few shots and explosions, Bdubs ran to shelter, bleeding and limping.
“I gotta bounce!” the yellow-eyed one said, leaving Etho shooting by himself. Fear resurfaced in him once again.
But it’d be fine, hopefully, he thought - it’s trapped against a wall, so it should be fine. Right?
“Listen, we’re gonna get a beacon! It's trapped, and we’re gonna win!” Bdubs was as hopeful and joyful as he had always been, despite his wounds.
The green-eyed one sighed, ditching his bow aside and unsheathing the axe he had tied to his back - he jumped, swinging left and right; barely a third of the halo remained purple.

But every time he hit the beast, it would dig deeper into one of the towers - the tower Bdubs was resting in.
Because, once the monster saw an objective, it wouldn’t stop until said objective was dead.
And Bdubs had been seen.
The walls gave in, letting the Wither inside the tower. It shot directly at a still weak Bdubs, who struggled to back away through a narrow tunnel.
“I’m fine! I’m okay!” he’d shout, convincing no one at all.
Instead, Etho’s worry only grew, grabbing from his pocket a glass bottle with a pink liquid in it.
“Do you need ‘regen?” he asked, over and over again - his voice drowned out by explosions.

And then, a final hit - in no way stronger than the others, yet not less painful.
A final hit that froze time for Etho; he was about to witness his friend go back down to red.
And he knew the third time’s the charm.
He witnessed one last explosion hit Bdubs, his body shivering as if the explosion had hit him instead.
He watched, potion in hand, as his yellow-eyed friend was pushed toward the end of the tunnel, toward the exit. But the exit was no safe escape; once the tunnel ended, a lethal drop awaited them both.
And Bdubs, wounded and disoriented, had gone first.
All Etho could do was watch how his friend fell to his doom, his head being the first to hit the ground. Watch how his friend’s eyes, a pale yellow, turned red before losing all life.
His body now laid on the floor, limp, as a puddle of blood grew from below his head, staining his dark hair and his moss-like jacket, red contrasting brutally with the calming green it once was.

He watched; he watched his happiness vanish, slipping through his fingers one last time.
Thunder struck the dead body; Bdubs was now on his last, red life.

Chapter Text

After a few seconds, Etho forced himself to look away and hide in a tunnel that went the other direction.
He arrived to a small room dug in stone with a hole in the ground, filled with water.
Their first potion room.
The silver-haired one looked around, spinning his pickaxe around in his hands, before walking to a wall and starting to break it down, making himself an alternative exit.
It was a quiet yet loud trip.
Explosions made the ground rumble, and the breathing of a panicked man echoed along the solitary tunnel, who swung his pickaxe over and over again, until he reached the outside and freedom once again.

And, maybe fate smiled at him tonight, as once he was on the surface, he found himself in front of a group of people.
A green-eyed group of people, just like him.
“Etho!” he heard, as his green friend Rendog climbed to him from the bottom of the hill the fort was settled on.
“Are you okay dude? What’s happening?” another voice asked him, out of sight. He recognized it as Martyn’s, the one who took Tango’s yellow life.
Etho knew better than anyone that he couldn’t blame Martyn for it, but it still stung deep in his heart; to know that it could’ve been anyone else that died, but Martyn chose to go after Tango…
Etho shook his head, trying to get those thoughts out of his mind - Martyn, along with others, was here to help him defeat the Wither. That was all there was to it.
“Are you alright? Are you okay Etho?”
“Reinforcements have arrived! From the other side of the server!” Ren said, offering him a hand to get down onto safe land. Etho doesn’t take it, jumping off instead.
“We were tryna’ fight the Wither, and, Bdubs… didn’t make it…” But an explosion interrupted the conversation - the Wither had found them all, and so they attempted to hide below a tree, all of them barely fitting at all, back against the spruce logs of the tree.
“We’re here to help, Etho!”
“...Are we teaming up to do that?” he didn’t sound sure of it, at all - he had just done that, and it didn’t have a good outcome. Why would it this time? Superiority in numbers?
“OH IT’S RIGHT THERE!” Martyn shouted, making everyone move towards him; everyone but Etho, whose jacket is pulled by Cleo to drag him along.
It was… weird, that situation Etho was in. Not a bad situation, but everything felt so… off.
Cleo looked at him, her wavy red hair tied up in a thick braid that rested on her shoulder, a very pale, greenish tone.
It seemed like he was taking too long to react, he thought, as Ren turned to check on him as well: his wolf-like ears on top of his head facing Etho’s way, same dark brown as his hair, which was tied in a ponytail, and a short beard.

Etho arrived at the hole the Wither was allegedly in, the rest of the green-eyed ground surrounding it; only for the beast to float upwards, seemingly aggressive towards him.
And battle broke out.
Axes in hand and bows charged, they went all out.
The purple halo around the monster’s heads was turning more and more black by the second, forcing it to summon a protective barrier; a white aura around it that slowly changed its halo to purple.
Explosions, axes and swords fought in the middle of the night, desperate and tired.
Etho couldn’t help but look at Bdubs’ yellow life corpse, still on the ground, for a few seconds before charging the Wither with renewed force, a product of grief alone. A grief that led to an unbreakable focus, an unsatisfiable thirst for vengeance he knew, deep down, he would never achieve. But he tried, anyway.
Lightning struck close, followed by a loud thud of somebody falling over, limp.
“I got Impulse!” Scott screamed in the background.
Seconds after, the Wither followed him; with one last swing of a diamond axe, Etho cracked its central skull, making it dissolve in dark, ash-like powder, which spread itself in the last crater it had made before expiring.
In the center of it? a white, star-like object that shone bright.
Rendog jumped down to grab the so-called Nether Star, cheerful screams warming the dark, moonless night.

But the happiness didn’t last long as arrows rained down on them; red eyes glowing in the dark, on top of the B.E.S.T. base, which they took a little bit ago.
Impulse had just died, along with the other three earlier in the day.
“Joel’s shooting. I’m shooting back.” Scott stated, grabbing a bunch of arrows and charging them on his bow, attacking back.
The rest of them started to follow, but the focus of the group quickly shifted again; this time, to a human silhouette sliding down one of the hills towards the green group, his eyes glowing a dangerous red.
“Bdubs.” Scott warned, letting his bow down to look at the newest arrival.
“Bdubs is red now!”
Bdubs looked… devastated.
His hair was a mess, his jacket covered in dry blood and mud… and his face, full of ash and small cuts from the trees he had dodged to run from the Wither.
Etho couldn’t help but step back at the sight of his friend, now aggressive and unpredictable.
“Yeah, I’m red now. I’m red now.” he said, as if he had been the same his entire existence. As if he could read what Etho was thinking.
He was looking around, trying to find something.
“Where are my soul speed boots?” he asked, looking directly at the silver-haired one, who couldn’t let his feelings of grief and loneliness above the rules, as sick as it sounded.
“Oh, we don’t have that.” Scott replied, putting his light blue hair back in its place, his head surrounded by glowing yellow crystals - the amount of lives he had left.
“You better tell me the truth.” Bdubs insisted, his voice getting raspier, almost terrifying look in his eyes, still on Etho.
“You- you don’t deserve them- anymore. …You failed.” He asserted, struggling to keep his eyes locked on Bdubs’, whose response was to walk towards him.
“WHY? I led us to victory! We got a beacon outta that!” The red one shouted, his face no longer visible in the darkness of the night.
“...You did… a lot of damage on it actually.”
It wasn’t the time to fight. It wasn’t a lost cause; maybe he could still get him back.
Maybe the third time wasn’t the charm.
“I did! I did so much damage!” Bdubs’ face lit up, happy that his achievements were recognized. Etho smiled in response, but he couldn’t tell if anyone noticed it.
“Pretty impressive. I thought we had it for a second there, and then…” his smile vanished as his voice got lower in volume, just to end up muttering.
It didn’t matter, either way; there was no time for feelings. Not now, not tonight.

“Reds are incoming, guys” Cleo warned; after this, they - non-red lives - all left the scene, looking for safety in such hard conditions.
But they didn’t go alone, like they thought; Bdubs followed them silently, like a stray dog without a home.
“Where are you going?” Scott asked once they got out of the forest around B.E.S.T. base.
“I’m– I’m just tryna’ get the high ground with you guys!” He replied, a few meters away.
“But you can’t be with us anymore.” the blue haired one sighed, sadly.
“You’re on your own, dude.” Ren added, harshly. He probably didn’t mean to be that harsh, or so Etho hoped.
“Listen, listen. You guys got lives to spare!” Only silence followed, the moonless night as dark as ever.
“I got one, Bdubs.” Etho stepped forward “But you got to do something for me.”
Bdubs walked towards him: excited, confident, ignorant; Etho never understood how his friend felt to pull through situations like this.
“Like what?! Give you the courage to kill a Wither? I already did that!” Etho only chuckled as a response. He really was still going with that, huh?
“...Give him a hit. Tell him to kill someone.” Scott whispered to the silver-haired one.
“...Okay, yeah. If you kill a red name-”
“But they’re all grouped up- I mean, I- I would’ve joined them but I’m very furious at them.”
By the sound of his voice, Bdubs was not confident at all about the trade.
“You kill a single red, Etho gives you a life.” Scott insisted.
“I will give you a life for that. That’s the deal. We’ll be back together, like buddies again, Bdubs… it’ll be great..!” Etho tried to hide how strongly he wanted his friend back by his side.
“Yes! It’ll be amazing. Okay. Um.. okay, okay.” Bdubs looked more and more unsure of his chances of victory.
“...The offer expires when I turn yellow.” the other one said, attempting to help his friend gain confidence; he immediately saw the red one’s face soften in relief.
Scott stepped forwards, holding a pair of iron boots in his hands.
“I accidentally lied to you, as well. Here’s your soul speed boots.” That fully boosted Bdubs’ morale, making him jump in excitement; just like he always does.
“Thank you so much! Now I’m ready! I’ll be right back!”
“Just do your thing, Bdubs. You know, make friends with them, and when they least expect it, go behind their back and just-” Etho swung his axe in the air, smiling.
“But that’s spending too much time- okaay, I’ll try… I’ll be back!” Bdubs said goodbye in an almost childish manner, disappearing into the forest to meet up with his equals.

The green group continued walking towards safety, silent, in the middle of the night.
“Well… the reds have, um, taken your tower for themselves, Etho.” Ren muttered.
They all turned around towards the snow fort, only to stare at a group of red-eyed people staring back at them. There wasn’t much they could do; after the Wither fight, wounds and pain was a constant bother.
There was no chance they could attempt an attack, or take anything back; their only option they had was to hide; to cower in man-made caves until the sun rose.
An option Etho did not enjoy.

Instead, Etho stayed on the surface, silently watching the red group walk freely around his home; it upset him, but he had to stay low, unnoticed, pressed against the outside of a wall of the snow fort - he felt as if his every breath, every step, every crack of a leaf would be his downfall.
“Bdubs, we’re more concerned that Etho has… solo’d the Wither.. ” Grian’s voice echoed around the base.
“HE DIDN’T SOLO’D IT! I SOLO’D IT!” Bdubs screamed back. “I gave him the courage!”
Small chuckles and laughs were the only response he would get.
“He was scared! He said ‘oh we should retreat!’ and I solo’d it!” Bdubs kept on - as much as Etho was embarrassed to admit, his friend was telling the truth; he would’ve ran away and abandoned the fort if it wasn’t for him.
This time, there was no mockery; but a chain of explosions went off in the background, too close for comfort. Etho guessed one of the towers had been blown up.
“WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU GUYS DOING?!” his friend screamed once again.
“Uh… they were watching us so I decided to give them a show.” Joel replied, far away “I only see three of them though, Etho’s missing from that group over there.”
Etho could feel his blood freeze as he reached towards his axe, every small sound making his heart beat twice as fast; his grip on the wall loosened as the palms of his hands were invaded by a cold, uncomfortable sweat; that was his doom, he thought.
“Well, Martyn was also not there right? They’ve divided, that’s better for us” Lizzie spoke.
A shared giggle filled the air afterwards.
The green-eyed slowly recovered his breath, although it was calming to know they would not look for him immediately, Lizzie did raise a great point; which meant that he couldn’t let his guard down; not yet, not anymore.
“Bdubs, Etho has no loyalty to you. He’s just immediately teamed with the next guy that’s come along.” Grian continued; the silver-haired one clenched his fists. He couldn’t intervene.
“He’s a survivor man, that’s all he does. Survive.” Tango added, before the conversation was drowned by silence.

Silence, and then a voice.
“He loves me.”
Bdubs sounded confident, sure of his words; the confidence Etho always admired.
And it was only followed by mockery.
“If he loved you, why didn’t he give you a life?” “Go say hello to him, see what happens.” Grian and Tango tore his words down, emotionless and aggressive; like red lives were.
“He- he cares. He does!”
Etho felt his heart shatter, it’s space filling up with rage - or was it guilt? - after hearing his friend, always confident, doubtful. And not any kind of doubt.
Bdubs was unsure of how Etho felt about him; unsure of how much he cared about him.
Maybe his actions weren’t clear enough?
Maybe his caring wasn’t enough?
Maybe, and just maybe, he thought, he wasn’t enough.
Yet, he couldn’t let it stand - he started climbing up one of the many trees that gave him cover, just so he could see the scene, and maybe even intervene.
“You’re the only one left in ‘B.E.S.T.’ by what I see.” the only response to Grian’s harsh, cold words was Bdubs’ shaky breathing.

And now that Etho could peek from the crown of the trees, he could witness his friend sat on top of a tower, rapidly looking around for anyone, anything, while he twisted and pulled his well known jacket. Etho wished he could reveal himself, right then, right there.
Etho wished Bdubs wasn’t believing the red group’s words.
“Is Tango out? Tango left it too-?” his words started to make no sense, stammering a poor excuse of an answer.
“Tango’s with us. We’re all on the same page, that Etho’s gotta go.” Bdubs looked more and more unsure the longer Grian spoke.
Etho could feel in his skin how alone Bdubs felt; how the wind of the night would get between his bones, freezing everything it touched; how the sight of nobody to cover your back felt so, so real. And maybe Etho had been too harsh to his friend.
But words weren’t going to solve it. Not now, not anymore.
And as much as Etho wished to climb up to the wall, run across the building to Bdubs to tell him how much he cares, he stayed on the tree.

“You reckon Scott and Cleo have got a secret base over there?” Joel asked, watching the trio of green lives run down a hill and disappear into the horizon.
“They definitely have- dude, Martyn was convinced! We were looking over in that direction, and we didn’t see anything, so, now that they’ve all run that way, they must have a secret base over there, I think.” and with that, all the red lives exited the castle by jumping into trees and onto the floor; bloodthirsty, weapons shining in their hands.
And Bdubs followed them.
Etho wanted to think it was to fulfill his part of the promise, and finally kill a red-eyed.
But, of course, he wasn’t sure; the only way to check was witnessing it.

“I think I just heard voices” Joel muttered, loud enough for the spy to hear. He wore a dark red crown, with a streak of his short, wavy brown hair colored a bright red.
“This could be an ambush. It could be a trap.” Lizzie replied, her hands holding her crossbow tightly, her light pink hair put up in a big, loose ponytail.
They all stayed silent, walking across an open field - Etho was getting further and further away from them; so far, he could no longer hear them.
He focused on his friend, Bdubs, with what looked like a black rose in his hands.
With what looked like a Wither rose in his hands.
Etho climbed to the crown of trees, jumping from crown to crown in a poor attempt to hear what was yet to happen; and even if he didn’t get to hear, he could at least see everything better from that angle.
What he did hear was a scream, coming from what sounded like Lizzie, who had just stepped on something.
She stepped on a Wither rose, one that Bdubs no longer had in his hands.
Her skin quickly paled, ash-like stains appearing along her arms and legs.
Withered.
Bdubs charged his bow, shooting a single arrow at her - it hit her shoulder, and this pushed her to the ground, crossbow loaded still in one of her hands.
He ran towards her, swinging his axe - she retaliated by firing her weapon, fireworks exploding right in his face, as she quickly crawled backwards.
She crawled, he swung, and she slipped - her free hand met nothing but air, and it’s already too late.
Lizzie fell to her demise, the back of her head landing on the edge of a rock - she never moves again. And to let everyone know, lightning struck her now lifeless body.

Bdubs, now on the run, slid down the cliff had killed Lizzie from, and ran as fast as he could, his face hidden from everyone.
He ran as the other red lives aimed their weapons at him, vengeful.
And Etho realizes.
It was now or never - the third time would be the charm if he didn’t intervene.
He places a hand on his chest, his green eye glowing - and he pulls.
From his chest, a green, heart-shaped aura appears, floating calmly on his hand.
Etho grabs it without much of a second thought, and throws it across the field - all the way to his friend.
Because Bdubs deserved to keep living.
Because Etho wanted him to keep living.

And lightning struck once again, a body falling limp in the distance - screams of happiness and celebration followed by the now group of three, red as blood.
The only thing Etho could do was stay hidden, hoping - begging that his life transfer had been on time; begging that Bdubs still had a life left.
Begging that he had been enough.
His communication device vibrated, but he didn’t check it until he was sure all threat was gone and occupied - he scrolled up the screen to see the final message - one they all left once they died, permanently or not.
All he read was:
‘BdoubleO100 was shot by Grian’
But… something was off.
Very, very off.
Instead of the bright red Grian’s and Bdubs’ name should’ve shared in that message, his friend’s name in that message was… orange - and not a dark one, either.
Was that possible?
…It hasn’t happened before.

That didn’t matter - not yet, Etho thought; Bdubs was his priority, and he had to find him.
He jumped from the crown of the tree onto the grass - slightly damaging his ankles - and headed to the center of the place they were in, also known as Spawn: the first place they woke up in. Spawn was a circle made of what was called ‘Bedrock’: a material so strong it couldn’t be damaged by anything known to man.

Once he arrived, he saw a group of four - their eyes all glowing red - walking away from his destination, where he saw nothing. He waited for the group to be out of sight, and ran towards the circle, nervously looking around.
“Bdubs?” he called “Bdubs, are you here? Are you okay?”
Only once he paid really close attention, he heard it.
Small, muffled knocking on stone - right below his feet. He quickly went below the unbreakable rock, and began digging towards the sound.
Digging only with his hands, he could feel the dirt get between his nails and his fingers; as much as it pained him, nothing was more important than his friend.

And then, like it was fate, he had found him.
Bent over himself, dirty; knees up to his chest, bleeding heavily - there, in a small hole in the dirt.
There was Bdubs, his friend! His best ally!
But that wasn’t a Bdubs he had seen before - Etho couldn’t help but hold his breath.
His friend’s face and moss-like jacket, covered in dark, crimson blood - could that be from the fireworks?
…That wasn’t the worst of it.
His eyes, Etho thought.
His eyes glowed the same dark crimson red.
Bdubs had reached a level below Red Life - Crimson Life.
“Bdubs?” the now yellow-eyed whispered, afraid to make a wrong move and hurt him.
Afraid to actually lose him.
The only response he got was a soft grunt and his friend’s chest moving - breathing.
Maybe that was enough.

Chapter Text

“Welcome Etho, to the land of the Shadow.” Rendog announced.
All three - Ren, Etho and Martyn - sat around a wooden table, in a room made of black stone; hidden deep underground, only lit by a single lantern that hung from the ceiling.
“Across, over there, is Shadow Fart.” Martyn nods, sitting across from Ren.
“You’re Shadow Fart.” Etho replies, unbelieving.
“I am Shadow Fart. You may have heard my name whistle in the wind.” Martyn talked in a lower voice than usual, for comedic yet mysterious effect.
“I’ve seen it whistle in the wind a couple times.” Etho agrees.
“And it all makes sense now.” they all laugh.
All but Etho, who isn’t very happy about being friendly with the one who took Tango’s yellow life.
But there was no better option.

“Getting serious now, Martyn, take this potion of poison. It shall be useful to you.” Ren said, grabbing a bottle full of a nauseous green liquid, and handing it to the one mentioned.
“Thank you. The Moon will be pleased with its use.”
The Moon?
“The Moon?” Etho repeats out loud.
“Yes, The Moon. She guides us.” Ren replied, looking at the ceiling - outside, a full moon stared at them three.
“She also wants us to bring others into the Light; if we do, She will help us join the Shadow with Her.” Martyn explained.
“Bring into the Light? As in killing?” the other two nodded in response.
“She also… told me, that She… doesn’t like Grian.” the blond admitted, carefully choosing his words.
“So we shouldn’t let Grian survive at any cost?” the yellow-eyed asked.
“If we want to join Her, no. And, Martyn, how come has She spoken only to you?” Ren leans forward on the table, dog-like ears facing his blond friend.
“I-I don’t know, dude! She just told me the night we woke up here.” he leans backwards, as to defend himself from an invisible threat.
“That long ago? It’s been a week since then.” Etho muttered, his eyes fixed on the table.
“Well, if you say so, then it must be true. Shadow Fart would never lie.” and the mood automatically lifted after that.
“And, Etho, do you know anything about Bdubs? He isn’t dead, contrary to all nature.” Martyn turns to face him.
“He… Well, it's very weird. He’s like… a level between a Red Life and permanently dead. If red is one life, Bdubs has… half?” he tried to explain what he could understand.
“How does that even happen? Grian must be the unluckiest man alive to be able to do that.” the other one commented, crossing his arms in disbelief.
“I wanted to ask him later, actually. His last death message was already weird.” Etho frowned, remembering the orange name he saw last night.
“It was orange, right? I saw it too.” Martyn’s eyes lit up in excitement. “Does it have anything to do with you? You didn’t die yesterday, but you’re yellow now.”
“Etho promised he’d give one of his lives to Bdubs if he managed to kill a Red, and by the looks of it, he probably killed Lizzie.” Ren explained.
“And then Bdubs died to Grian anyway, causing this…?” Etho nodded in response.
“I stayed around Bdubs and saw how he killed her. He did it surrounded by three other Reds, this guy; I had to fulfill my part of the promise at that moment or he was toast.”
“Well, he’s closer to death than anyone else now…” Martyn thought out loud.

And then, all their communication devices started to vibrate - the Boogeyman was about to be chosen. They all looked at their own countdowns: 3… 2… 1…
Etho stood up and pushed Martyn off his chair, in complete silence.
Ren tried to block him with his arms, yelling, with no result - Martyn crawled to the other side of the room, terrified and holding his arms up - a spyglass in one of his hands - for protection. Etho sat back down, chuckling.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” but the tension in the room was tangible.
“...You have a dark sense of humor.” Ren said, trying to calm back down.

Once they were out of the meeting room, they could hear familiar voices outside the walls.
Voices from those who were no longer friends.
“Hey Martyn, listen. You’re not my friend, but I will say; respect for that kill yesterday.” Tango, who was talking to BigB, then turns to look at Etho “I saved your life, Etho. Which, by the way, why are you yellow now?”
“A promise.” was the only thing he could answer - he didn’t want to put a target on his friend’s back like that. He already barely trusted Ren and Martyn enough to tell them. Judging the look on Martyn’s eyes, he also understood.
“Oh, and, have you seen Bdubs since yesterday? His status on the list says that he’s alive, so I thought I could team up with him - you can also join, Etho.” Tango smiled, his hands turning the sword he held.
“...I haven’t. And I think I’ll pass, thank you. I don’t wanna be a Red life this early.” he answered, mockingly.
“You and your superiority” Tango said despectively “You’re just a yellow life - hope your blinding loyalty doesn’t make you forget that.” and with that, he left the place.
“Don’t-” Martyn started.
“Don’t pity me, it’s not worth it. I… have to go check up on Bdubs. Before anyone else does.”
And he walked out the door, the other two watching in silence - the only thing they could do.

It’s quiet in the forest.
Birds no longer chirped, no wild animals left to wander.
The sun shone bright in the sky - judging by its height in the sky, it was not even midday.
Etho’s communication device rang a while ago - Pearl had been shot by a monster, and was now on Light Green, or 3 lives. Not very dangerous - taking out the fact that she was probably being targeted because of her amount of lives.
He slowly made his way to whatever remained of the fort he had lived in, B.E.S.T. base; but it was all exaggeratedly quiet - his footsteps echoed, and even his breathing felt too loud.
In the distance, he could see his base, barely standing together; his home.
He tried to climb the walls of snow, but the mere touch would make them crumble down; his only option was to get in through any of the many holes the fort had.

“Bdubs?” Etho called, carefully looking around - nowhere was safe anymore, and he didn’t want to put his friend’s life in danger. He walked into the last tower standing, where a crimson-eyed friend laid restless on a mattress, under some thick blankets.
“How are you doing?” the other one lifted his head to see who was talking to him - at the sight of Etho, all his muscles noticeably relaxed; Etho didn’t know how to feel about that.
“Hm…?” he managed to say out loud, now sat on the poor excuse of a bed, still under the covers.

Etho couldn’t help but physically step back at that sight - the fireworks had been worse than he thought.
Bdubs had his face covered with dry, dark blood - underneath, his cheeks and the bridge of his nose were a bright, baby pink, with patches of almost coal black skin, calcinated.
The moss-like jacket was laying on the floor beside him, covered in different colors of blood and mud, so he only had a torn, dirty white t-shirt, equivalently stained black jeans and his bandana around his forehead.
He was getting visibly more and more nervous due to the silence.
“…Etho? that was you right? Are you here?”
Etho extended his hand, his eyes avoiding his friend’s face at all cost, and gently landed it on one of his shoulders - he flinched, despite having his eyes completely open.
“It’s me, it’s Etho. Is everything… okay?” he said, his hand now softly gripping his friend’s shoulder.
“Well, I… only see a shadow in front of me- I want to think it’s you? It is you, right?”
“It is, it is.” Etho glanced up at his friend's face once again, a cold shiver traveling all along and across his body “You know, I think we should get your… face… cleaned. So it doesn’t get infected.” Bdubs frowned as a response, but got up the mattress with his friend’s help, and slowly made their way to the remains of the potion room, where a half-empty cauldron still stood.
Etho carefully holds his friend up by the shoulders, while Bdubs makes a bowl with his hands, and grabs some water with it - he doubts for a second before splashing it on his face.

He immediately regrets it.
The lukewarm water stings, and to an extreme - Bdubs jumps back, screaming in pain, as he covers his face with his dirty hands, most likely making the pain worse.
Etho doesn’t let go of him, hoping he could come up with something to ease the pain - he isn’t able to.
“Bdubs, Bdubs! listen- hey, you’re gonna be okay-“ he blabs, drowned by the screams of pain.
He pulls his friend towards a wall, with the intent of letting him rest there for a few minutes, and lets go of his shoulders.
“Etho? ETHO? DON’T LEAVE! COME BACK!” Bdubs immediately screams, trembling in place.
“I’m going to grab bandages for you- It’ll take a few minutes, max’” the yellow-eyed one assures.

Even though they weren’t meant to be helping each other; even though the rules forbid it, Etho couldn’t just leave Bdubs alone to… alone his own luck. - after all they had been through in that hell of a week, not a chance.
The silver-haired sprinted up the underground tunnel up to one of the many chests laying around; in it, he found a roll of white cloth - not exactly a bandage, but close enough to work - took it and ran back.
Once he was back, he gently pushed Bdubs to sit down on the floor, and then kneeled down next to him.
“I’m going to bandage your face, I’ll try to be careful.” Etho announced before extending the cloth and carefully attempting to place it around his friend’s wounds.
After the first contact, Bdubs grabbed Etho’s forearm out of pain - he didn’t pull back.

It was a tedious, painful task for them both; in the end, with Bdubs’ face neatly bandanged, and bruises on the other’s arm, they both returned to the tower the mattress was in.
Not before hearing a sound outside.
The sound of a sword being unsheathed above them, followed by something dropping down.
Something that dropped down right behind them.
“So Bdubs is still alive!” Joel smiled, his red eyes glaring.
“I didn’t expect a yellow to be helping a red like this… feels almost wrong.” Grian twisted his axe in his hand, playfully.
“You’d know why better than anyone else.” Etho clenched his fists, nervous; he was at a clear disadvantage, and the identities of his opponents did not make it easier. Grian didn’t seem to take that answer well - he frowned and the axe stopped moving in his hand.
“That doesn’t matter. Etho, you should leave while you can. We’re not killing you just yet.” Bdubs moved behind his friend, holding onto his elbow - like his life depended on it.
“Then you’re gonna have to get through me first.”
“You’re being very cocky, Etho” Joel laughed, stepping forward.
“It’s an honor coming from you.” he tried to stand his ground, his friend still trembling beside him - it was not an easy situation he could run from.
“Say, I never got around to ask you, since I turned red really early and stuff; what’s up with your eye? It wasn’t like that last time this happened.” Joel kept walking towards them both.
“It’s not important.” this made the red snap his tongue.
“Not important? You lost your eye, I just wanna’ know what happened, ‘cause I apparently missed it.” The two were standing so close to each other that the yellow one could feel the other’s breath. None of them were willing to step back.
“Well, you weren’t… there, by then. It’s nothing.”
“Nothing? I think that battle was legendary.” Grian spoke, somewhere from behind him.
Before the yellow one could turn around, a sharp pain struck his entire body.
He felt the cold iron of a sword sink and resummerge through him - he’d been stabbed.
“Etho? Etho are you okay? GRIAN, WHAT DID YOU DO?” Bdubs shouted - but the world was getting darker by the second, as his knees gave in and he struggled to keep himself from collapsing on the ground.
“Me? I’m not doing anything. We’re just helping Etho join us, the Red Lives.” was the last sentence he heard before feeling a second stab, higher than the other one - right through his heart. He finally collapsed on the floor, his body numb, his vision black.

He jolts awake to the sound of lightning striking nearby.
Around him, the same tower Bdubs had been resting in, just minutes before.
He stands up, disoriented, phantom pain still drowning him - and walks outside, where his own body, dead on the ground, waited for him.
Etho kneels down, disgusted by the sight, and gently touched the blood-stained silver hair.
The body then disappears.
“Welcome back. Feeling blood-thirsty already?” Joel greeted him - he didn't answer.
“He probably has to sulk or something. He’s proud like that.” Grian mocks, starting to walk away - he’s followed by the one in a crown, both leaving through one of the holes in the walls.

“Etho? It’s gonna be okay. Both of us together? We’re gonna be indestructible.” Bdubs walked up to him, until their arms touched, and placed his hand on his shoulder, just like Etho had done earlier. It helped - but he wouldn’t admit it out loud.
“You know? I thought of a better place to hide. I think the Southlands are pretty empty, with half of them being red and all.”

The forest is quiet. There’s no wind, and the crows on the trees remain silent.
The only sounds were the heavy breathing and footsteps of the two - the crimson and the red.
Crossed the bridge next to Spawn, following the path towards the south.
During the journey, two lightning struck: one for Ren, and one for Pearl; both now on their yellow life - Etho then planned on catching up with Ren soon.

They arrived at a half burnt down fort, with five towers made of cobblestone and wood - a ghost town, quite literally. They both walked all the way to the back, to a room dug in the mountain where most of the chests were, and settled down.
They stole one of the unused beds for Bdubs to rest in, some food and materials for defense.
“Etho, would it be a good idea to set up a trap in case someone comes in?” the crimson one asked, sat on the bed.
Etho immediately got to work on it; there were never enough precautions.
After a long while, he had finished - the second someone turned the doorknob to the room they hid in, 7 sets of TNT rigged in minecarts would go off under their feet.
And with that done, he went to take care of the abandoned cows under the room, who looked very happy to see someone after so long.
Etho remembered better times, while underground with them - maybe not better times, but simpler times. The times where everyone would search far and wide for one of those mammals; those times where, despite the disadvantage in numbers, the loyalty was tangible.
…
An explosion pulled him out of his thoughts, which was followed by two familiar screams.
He ran as fast as he could to the room where Bdubs rested, worried - he hadn’t heard any lightning yet, which was relieving, but that didn’t mean his friend was alright.
He arrived at the scene to find a crater where the entrance used to be; in it, a person, covered in ash and dust from the explosion - the last green southlander, Martyn, unconscious on the ground.
Etho slowly unsheathed his sword, his only working eye fixed on the intruder; raising his weapon, walking towards the hole in the ground, an emotionless expression on his face - his eyes glowing red. He slid in the crater and stood in the middle of it, right in front of Martyn.
He stared at his soon to be victim, barely breathing properly on the ground - he took his time to decide the place to stab.
The heart? Too common.
But piercing the skull would not be a very gracious death to suffer…

He raised his sword as the southlander slowly opened his own eyes.
The last thing Etho saw before sinking his blade in the green one’s throat was his victim’s eyes opening wide in realization.
And with his eyes wide open he laid, blood pouring out of his neck; it took around a minute for a pool to form around the killer’s boots.
Lightning struck the body in front of him - he felt the heat on his skin like he was exposed to a thousand suns for just a second.
“Who was it?” Bdubs asked from the back of the room; his voice made Etho come back to himself, who turned around to get out of the crater - too guilty to look back.
“Martyn.”
“What did he want? This place has literally nothing left!” the crimson one now stood in the middle of the room, an exhausted smile on his face.
“...I don’t know, but we should probably move. Before he comes back.”
And that is what they did.

Chapter Text

“You know? I feel a lot better now.” Bdubs said, happily.
“That’s because of all the potions I’ve been giving you.” the other one smiled, turning his head to look at the one covered in bandages. “We should clean your face sometime soon, though.”
“What do you mean? I look fabulous! I’m the cleanest I’ve been this past week!” the brown-haired protested.
“I hope you’re wrong.” the smile turned into a playful one.
Lightning struck on the horizon, interrupting the conversation.
Bdubs looked for the cause in his communication device, his face frowning.
“Tango blew up.” he announced with a whisper.
Etho felt a knot appear in his throat - his last chat with Tango…
He clenched and hid his fists behind his back so his friend couldn’t see; but his face spoke volumes.
“Did something happen while I was…?” the silver-haired bit his tongue under the mask.
“I couldn’t risk anyone knowing where you were.”
Bdubs frowned once again, now angry.
“What would’ve Tango done to me if he knew?”
“I don’t know, dude, but- it was just in case.”
“‘Just in case’? Are you out of your MIND? Tango is- he was a GOOD GUY! WE WERE FRIENDS, AND NOW HE’S GONE! WHY ARE YOU CAUTIOUS ABOUT FRIENDS?” Bdubs had stopped walking paralel to his friend, and now walked towards him - eyes glowing a dark red.
“You took two of his lives from him! He could’ve killed you and not regretted a thing.” the other one bit back just as lightning struck twice, ahead of them - Etho could read the message in his friend’s communication device;
‘bigbst4tz2 was shot by ZombieCleo’ and ‘GoodTimeWithScar was shot by Renthedog’.
“...Let’s leave it.”
There were only 4 Red Lives left, and they were divided in two; soon to be three by the looks of the conversation before.

The sun had begun to set.
Neither of the two had forgotten the conversation that had gone unfinished, but none of them wanted to bring it up again - they only had each other, after all; and being alone would only end in death.
They both sat behind a group of trees, Etho polishing this axe’s edges; Bdubs silently chewing on a piece of bread.
Suddenly, the crunch of leaves alerted them both, who immediately stood still in place.
“Do we get a free kill?” Bdubs whispered; he got a nod as a response.
A few meters away, walking along the path towards the west, was Cleo, on her green life - the last of her kind.
And neither Etho nor Bdubs could let it stay that way.

They both stood up, the red one swinging his axe in the air, and ran towards her, at full speed.
She barely had time to react; her sword sheathed and her shield down.
“Who’s there?!” she screamed, sporadically looking around, terrified by the sudden noise the Red were making while running.
An axe swung from the shadows of the forest, reaching right above her right shoulder and across all the way to her other shoulder.
She collapsed on the ground, her hands around her neck - bright red overtaking her pale green skin. Bdubs unsheathed his sword, squinting as if that would help him see better, and dug the blade in her back with force. He placed a foot on her shoulder, and pulled the weapon out; none of them looked at her body again as it collapsed on the ground.
Lightning struck, and they both headed back into the forest, with feelings somewhat contradicted.
“We really just… did that, huh?” Bdubs muttered.
“It’s what red lives do. I hope Cleo doesn’t try to get revenge, though.” Etho answered coldy, and his friend noticed that.
“Are you okay, dude?”
“...What do you mean?”
“Is it… This is because of Tango, right?” the crimson received silence. “I’m sorry I shouted at you.”
“The thing is- do you understand why?” the silver-haired one turned to look at his friend, frowning.
“I… I’m gonna be honest, I don’t, at all. I feel like we’re not even thinking about the same guy.” the one in the white t-shirt could not think about any moment where their late friend had threatened or harmed any of them. He even forgave him after the boogey-kill.
“You didn’t see him this morning. He wasn’t friendly at all.” Etho stared emptily at the horizon, recalling everything that had happened.
“And what did he say?” the red one took a deep breath.
“He said he wanted to find you, and then threatened to kill me when I was still yellow.” the other one chuckled in response.
“He’s said he’d do things like that before, dude. He’s never gone through with it. He’d never do it, not to us.”
Etho clenched his fists - how could his friend be so stupid?
“It was different. He was going to do it. I had to protect you.”
“You’re talking like I can’t defend myself! I’m as capable, if not more, than you!” the crimson one shouted back.
“Then I guess you can survive long enough to win this game all by yourself.” and walked away, never looking back - his eyes, now both matching red, glowed in the dark.

The moon was rising, and the stars lit up the sky.
Etho sat on a tree by himself, swinging a dagger around like it’s a pencil.
“Hey fella. ‘You alone?” a familiar voice called, his shoulders automatically tensing up.
It was Joel and Grian, looking at him from the ground.
“None of your business.”
“Did you fight with Bdubs or something? Is the divorce happening?” Grian joked.
“Why are you here?” Etho sighed, looking at them with an annoyed look in his eyes.
“Well, we wanted to make a deal with you. It’s pointless to be attacking each other when there’s yellows still around, you know?” Joel smiled playfully, like he usually does.
“You’re both proposing a truce?” the silver-haired one jumped off the tree, trying not to show how much pain he felt in his ankles, and landed in front of the other two; it was a logical decision, thinking about it.
“No killing, trapping or attacking each other until the last yellow life is down. Deal?” Grian extended his hand.
“Deal.” They shake hands, the pair smiling widely; Etho couldn’t help but feel like he had made the wrong move, despite it being the best one.
“So, where’s your friend? It’s weird seeing you alone after what happened at your base.” Joel pushed the question once again.
“I don’t know. He’s probably fine, though.” he answered - yet inside, he was terrified of having left Bdubs on his own.
Because, if he died, Etho would be all by himself, and that was… terrifying. So terrifying, that he had put his own selfish emotions over his friend’s; because, honestly, Etho could probably fend for himself quite well - he just didn’t want to be alone.
Bdubs deserved to say goodbye to a friend, and he had taken away that right.
"You seem to be pretty sure, despite the fact that it's been a while since you've seen him." Grian butted in.
"...What are you trying to do?" the silver-haired one tried to hide his growing anxiety.
"Well, you don't really want him to die, do you? He's all weak and stuff, right?" Joel smiled.
"He's fine." the only person he was trying to convince was himself, and not even that worked.
"Hey, Joel, how 'bout we visit Bdubs next? He's all lonely and stuff, he'll need friends!" the avian's eyes glowed a bright, dangerous red - as bright as when he murdered him, not a day ago.
"Sounds like a great idea, Grian! Let's go make some friends!" and they both walked away.
Etho could feel a knot in his throat, as breathing got harder and harder to do.
He couldn't risk searching for Bdubs, alone in the middle of the night - or he would be the one with the target on his back.

Maybe he could pay Ren a visit before going back and apologizing to Bdubs.

And that’s what he did. He walked his way towards Ren’s tower, where the remaining yellow lives rested for the night, and jumped over the wall.
Inside, Ren was the only one awake, probably to protect the others.
“Etho! What are you doing here?” he whispered, obviously alarmed by his presence.
“I just wanted to chat, don’t worry.” he sat against the stone wall, facing his otherwise friend.
“And… what about?”
“Well, you’re yellow now.” the red one crossed his legs, as to sit more comfortably.
“Yeah… I got ambushed by Joel and Grian while picking apples. I did get to grab all my stuff before they could, which is nice.” he could tell Ren was starting to be more comfortable as the conversation went on.
“Those two are always causing mayhem, aren’t they?”
“Well, what happened to you? It said you were ‘slain by Grian’.” the yellow one moved his sword away.
“He snuck up from behind…” Etho rested his head against the wall, sighing.
“That’s rough, dude. Also, weren’t you with Bdubs today? Where is he?” the red felt his heart sink.
“We argued. I think…” he stopped for a second, sighing “I think the longer you stay red, the more aggressive you go. And… well, Bdubs is a level below red; I can’t imagine how he’s feelin’.”
“Grian and Joel are very aggressive, now that you mention it.” they both fell silent, before Etho spoke up again.
“How did Scar and BigB die, by the way?” Ren’s eyes lit up in excitement, his dog-like tail wagging behind him.
“Well, Scott, Cleo and I made the ‘plan bubble-vate’; I acted as bait for red names and the other two hid underground, and when I got attacked, they would pop up immediately thanks to the bubble-vators, and kill them all! It worked perfectly!”
“That sounds excellent - and both of them died to it?” Etho wished he could’ve been there as a yellow name.
“Also, what happened to Martyn? He told me he went to the Southlands, blew up, and next thing he knew was that you killed him.” the red name froze in place.
“…If I told you I didn’t do that willingly…? I mean… I did do it, but… I was in like, automatic mode…?” he brushed his hands through his hair, incapable of expressing himself right. However, the yellow one was patient “…Am I making any sense?”
“…I don’t fully get it, since I haven’t been a Red life yet, but… you’re saying you lose your judgment and turn extremely bloodthirsty?” Etho tried to ignore his friend reaching out for a sword he had pushed aside a few minutes ago.
“…Yeah, more or less.”
“I’m guessing you don’t control it, either.” the red shook his head “Well, then… I can tell Martyn when he wakes up, if you want me to.” the silver-haired one stood up, weapon in hand.
“I would appreciate it. And, I think I should leave you guys alone before any of them wake up. I hope we can be on the same side of history soon.”
Etho jumped the wall and entered the forest, the night sky shining pretty as ever.

Ren witnessed as the crystals around Scott’s head turned from a pale yellow to a bright red - the boogeyman curse hadn’t been fulfilled, and that was the consequence.

Chapter Text

Etho walks along a path, going nowhere in particular.
The sun had just risen - the wind blew across the forest, freezing him; but his red eyes were fixed on the floor, one thought stuck in his mind: he had to apologize to Bdubs.
They had spent the first and, hopefully, only night apart; both alone, or so Etho thought.
He wanted to do so many things.
He wanted to know more about the Moon Ren and Martyn worshiped so much; he wanted to know about why Bdubs had a darker red than the rest of them; he wanted to talk to everyone, alive or dead, one last time - he missed Skizzle and Tango the most.
But that wasn’t something he could do.
Not now; not anymore.

The sound of people pulled him out of his thoughts. They were approaching him.
He pulled his axe, tensing up - partly in fear.
“Etho? We’re not here to kill you, we promise” Scott shouted, somewhere to his left, before a group of three appeared from behind the trees, from that same direction.
Joel, his crown shiny as always; Grian, parrot wings stretched - one of them gone; and Scott, fidgeting with an arrow in his hands, nervous - overwhelmed.
“Hey fella. How did the night treat you?” Joel asked, as nonchalantly as he always is.
“Not well. Mobs everywhere - you know it.” Etho doesn’t let his guard down.
“We were thinking, Etho; since the yellows are sticking together, we say we do the same. To protect ourselves, you know?” the red king stretched his hand along with the deal.
The loner considered it.
“We’ll also be getting Bdubs to join. We can’t leave anyone behind; especially not a red.” Grian added.
“…Fine. Our truce is still up, right?” Etho nodded in agreement, shaking hands once again.
“Of course. We don’t break promises just like that.” the winged one smiled back.

“Etho, I need to warn you about something.” Scott whispered, once the other two had gone to set one of many traps.
“What about?”
“You know they will turn on you, right? They both have been wanting you dead ever since they first went red.” the one with blue hair looked around, careful. Even the trees had ears around that place.
“Yes, I’m fully aware. But I can’t be alone for so long, I gotta take the risk. When the yellows start turning red, then I will leave.”
“You weren’t alone, though, right? You were with Bdubs.” that question hit Etho like a kick to the stomach.
“We… argued. It’s fine.”
Scott looked worried, but he knew that wasn’t his battle to fight.
“I also… wanted to let you know one more thing. About Grian.” he looked around once more - you could never be careful enough “If you look at him long enough, you can see purple stuff… flicker around him. His eyes turn purple, and his arms have purple stuff on it - and, he has this… weird vibe, he doesn’t feel… mortal, like the rest of us.”
“…Do you think he’ll actually… die, if he goes down from red?” the one with the mask questions out loud.
“…I don’t know. He won the game last time, so we have no way of knowing, either.”
Lightning struck in the horizon, interrupting the conversation - they both ran to check their communicators, only to read a simple ‘Renthedog blew up’.
“Oh! I think that must’ve been Pearl, she had a trap prepared.” Scott’s eyes lit up, proud.
“We should meet up with him, maybe he knows something more about Grian.”

Ren’s castle was silent and gray, the sun refrained from shining through the clouds. The group of reds jumped the wall, calling for the owner of the tower.
He answered, sighing.
“I got murdered on the dance floor.”
“Did Pearl blow you up?” Scott received a tired nod as a response.
“She’s dangerous.” Grian muttered to himself - Etho could’ve sworn his eyes flickered purple, along with, without exaggeration, around three pairs of pure white wings. He blinked, confused by it all; but by the time he could see the man in the red sweater again, it had all gone back to normal.
“Ren, are you joining us?” Joel asked.
“…Sure. Let’s turn everyone red.”

Wind whistled loudly in their ears.
The group of five were chasing after two of the last yellow names, Pearl and Martyn, rocket launchers - or a prototype of them - in hand.
Etho had spoken against the fireworks, his mind picturing his friend Bdubs and the moment he tried to wash his face.
Grian had shut him off, insisting that injuries didn’t stay if the person lost a life - which was true to the rest of them.
Why did Bdubs’ injuries not disappear after going down a life?

They were following the yellows close behind, going up and around the stone hills.
But every time you go up, you always have to come back down.
The yellows saw themselves almost rolling down the hill they had just climbed up - and this gave the reds the opportunity to catch up to them, completely.
Etho himself was just following the group, watching Grian and Joel shoot their rocket launchers at their poor, exhausted victims.
And then, lightning struck; ‘Pearl went off with a bang’.
The killers celebrated, as the other yellow got away, most likely in a panic.

The perfect opportunity to leave the group.
Etho ran down the hill and entered the forest once again - he almost found comfort in the trees towering over him; protecting him.
Now, all he had to do was to look for Bdubs.

The sun sat in the top of the sky when Etho walked into the old, abandoned statue that functioned as a house, or as his late friends named it, Rocktopus.
And there, in the middle of it, he found his friend, sat facing away from him.
“You’re here.” Bdubs muttered, just loud enough.
It was hard to admit how much the red had missed his friend; how he wanted to sit by his side and stay together forever - how he wanted to end the game, right there, right now.
“I was looking for you.” he started, unsure if he could step in the building, or if he was only allowed to stay at the door.
“Well, I’ve been doing great. You can leave now.”
It hurt.
Words that hurt like a stab wound.
“Bdubs… I wanted to… say sorry.” he saw how his friend’s tough act broke, only for him to try and build it back up again, less believable than before.
“I know you’re strong, brave, and smart like only you are. But… I was scared for your safety. Your weird… ‘half life’, your injuries… they made you interesting, they made you… a target.” Etho has to stop himself for a few moments, his eyes now glassy. “If… If you saw the amount of people - red names, that asked me about you; the smiles they had when they knew you were alone, injured to no end.”
Bdubs stayed silent, facing the other way.
“I know it’s not justified. I know I can’t expect your mercy. I know… I know I did wrong in hiding you from the world until you felt good enough to walk - But I didn’t know what else to do… I didn’t- I don’t want to lose you, too.” the red name couldn’t hold back the tears anymore.
The mere thought of being alone was terrifying; and Etho couldn’t let that nightmare become true.
They stood in silence, one in the entrance, the other in the dead center of the room.
“…I should’ve trusted your judgment, as well.” Bdubs’ voice was raspy, almost breaking. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. I know you meant the best.”
Etho’s face softens in relief, slowly walking from the door to his friend.
“I just… it feels horrible to not be able to fend for yourself. Especially in a game of life or death-“
The red life kneeled next to the crimson, this last one turning towards him. Bdubs then pulls his friend into a tight, long yearned hug, tears streaming down.
“…You’re a dumbass.” Etho scoffs, putting his arms around his friend as well, tears starting to pour out.
Finally, comfort in this hell of a life; or so they thought.

“What a cute moment you’re both having.” Joel’s voice interrupted.
Etho’s heart began to race, swiftly breaking the hug to stand up and unsheathe his sword, defensive. Last time these four were in the same place, blood splattered the walls of a home that used to be.
“No need to get aggressive.” the one in the crown stepped in the building, hands up - no weapon in sight.
“Where’s Grian?” the one in the mask spat out, just as he felt someone - his friend, Bdubs - putting his hand on his back; he didn’t know who the one in crimson was trying to comfort out of the two.
“I’m right here!” Grian replied behind him, right as he kicked him forward; Etho lost balance and collapsed on the floor, his weapon flying out of his hand.
He could only watch as the avian placed his sword on the crimson’s neck, grabbing his shoulder from behind with the free hand.
If Bdubs dared to move, he was dead - Etho was aware of that.
“We just want to know something.” Joel kicked the sword out of reach, smiling mischiefly.
“WHAT DO YOU WANT?!” the one being held hostage shouted - he was scared, and all of them knew.
“How are you not dead?” Grian tightened his grip on the sword.
“I gave Bdubs a life while he was chased by you after killing Lizzie. I don’t know how he managed to lose a life and a half.” Etho didn’t feel like he was able to protect Bdubs this time. Not now; not anymore.
“He broke the life system?” the avian asked, muttering to himself. “Is that why he has injuries from his past life? Because the life system broke? Oh, they can’t be very happy about this.” he sounded more and more happy as he went on. Bdubs’ concern, on the other hand, grew; his dirty bandages weren’t enough to hide it.
“How can that even happen? He respawned, didn’t he?” Joel looked perplexed - Etho took this chance to stand back up in place.
“I think the life Etho sent stopped the arrow mid-air, but it still hit me afterwards, just very slow?” Bdubs spoke up again, trying to remain calm. “Now, can you- please let me go…?” Grian didn’t move.
“I have a question, Grian.” Etho needed to know so many things about that man, that he didn’t know where to even start. “You know Ren and Martyn have this… worshiping activity towards the Moon - they say She tells them to kill in order to join Her - what I mean is, are you related to whatever the Moon is?” He saw the familiar purple flicker once again, now in a more exaggerated manner.
“I don’t think I can answer that-” he began, lowering his weapon, allowing Bdubs to breathe more calmly.
“...Are you forcing us to play this game, Grian?” Joel asked, hurt.
“No- No! You got it all wrong- I’m trying to stop this game, I just… It can’t be stopped when it’s in progress.”
“...And you’re killing everyone in order to end this game faster?” the one with the crown asked.
“...Yeah. I knew they would never let me have the Boogeyman curse, so… I had to go red as fast as possible without being suspicious.” Grian looked nervous - more than ever.
“And- Why are you only telling us now? We could help you.” Bdubs offered, reminding the avian to put his sword back against his neck again.
“They’re always watching us. I never got a chance - not until now.”
“How can we help you, then? I can’t keep playing this game.” Etho asked, all of them leaving their differences aside, for just a minute.
“...The only way to end the cycle is between games - the only way to end the game is to have a winner.” Grian’s flickering became more frequent, but nobody else seemed to bother.
“...So we have to kill everyone as fast as we can?” Joel’s smile returned to his face, his sword in his hand - Etho glanced at his own, laying in a corner of the room.
“That was my plan.” the bird agreed - the silver-haired’s blood froze; he could read it in their eyes, see it in the way their weapons were held - he looked at Bdubs, who begged for help with his eyes.
The only way out was force.

Lightning struck in the distance, making it the perfect distraction.
Etho charged against Joel, who was caught off guard by this and got knocked down to the ground. He then turned around, only for his heart to shatter.
He witnessed, as Grian sliced his friend’s throat clean open.
He witnessed how Bdubs’ eyes opened wide in response to the sudden pain.
He witnessed how crimson blood streamed down his skin like waterfalls.
Grian then let go of him, the body collapsing on the floor with a loud thud; rapidly losing color as a puddle grew beneath him.
Lightning struck the Rocktopus.
The room fell silent; only the echo of a liquid, which Etho wished was water flowing, remained.

That was it.
Etho was finally, utterly alone.
He had no one to trust; nobody to rely on. Not now, not anymore.
His vision went blurry, his body frozen; his mind raced back and forth between guilt, pain and anger.
After a few seconds, his legs finally responded; he kneeled next to the corpse, cold on the ground - Etho didn’t have any expression on his face. He was empty.
“Our truce never included Bdubs. I trust you understand.” the other two walked out of the room, but he couldn’t care; not anymore.

After a few minutes of silence, tears finally began to stream down his cheeks, as he carefully, shakingly, held his friend’s body in his arms - he couldn’t care less about staining himself red.
He hugged him, his lips gently resting on top of the corpse’s head, held carefully against his chest.
Afraid that once he let go, all his memories of Bdubs, and even Team B.E.S.T. would disappear forever.
If only his friend could breathe once more - speak to him once more; maybe that would be enough.

Yet, he couldn’t; Etho drowned in lethal silence, his mask wet from all the tears, which he slowly took off and placed it somewhere next to them.
He wasn’t going to need it anymore, anyway; he might as well abandon it.
Etho’s eye scar was completely revealed, now that the mask was off: it crossed from above his eyebrow all the way to his lip.
He could barely see between his tears, his head aching and his breathing painful from all the crying - soft sniffles escaped his throat as he held onto the corpse of an old friend.
And from one of the dead body’s pockets, a golden clock fell on the wooden floor, ticking.

Because Time waited for no man.

He wouldn’t admit it; he couldn’t admit it, but he wandered around for hours on end, alone, tears still silently streaming down his face until there was none left to cry.
His hands played with the clock he had gifted his friend with, golden like the day he had given it away. It hadn’t been long enough.
He left too soon.

It was raining, and the Southlands were empty, as they always were. A red life paced back and forth inside, his mind somewhere else; tied around his waist, a green, moss-like jacket, dirty as it had never been, and dark red blood stains everywhere on his body, from the completely covered hands to the silver, almost white hair, to the knees he had sunk in the puddle.
Then, a noise came from the entrance; a terrified Martyn rushed inside, Etho’s presence catching him by surprise.
“I’m not going to kill you.” the red muttered, his eyes puffy from crying.
“…You’re not…?” the last yellow approached him, weapon still in hand. “…What happened? Where’s your mask? Where’s all that blood from…?”
Etho’s heart sank - the reminder was just as painful as when it happened, if not more.
“…Have you read the chat lately…?” the red clenched his fists; Martyn noticed, but chose to remain quiet.
“Last thing I saw was Cleo’s death- I’ve been on the run for a bit, honestly-” he said while taking out his communication device to check, interrupting himself when the realization hit.
“Yeah. We kind of match now - my allies are all dead and yours are all dead.” the red didn’t want to hear his pity.
“I’m sorry- do you have anyone to stay with? or- do you want to be alone? I can leave-“ he was surprisingly kind.
“…A bit of company wouldn’t hurt.”

They both sat against the wall made of cobblestone, in a somewhat comfortable silence.
“…I found out something that I think you would be interested in.” Etho spoke up after a while, rain gracefully landing on his face, streaming down.
“What’s that?”
“Grian is related to the Moon- in… a bad way. They’re enemies, or something of the sort.” he could sense how his blond companion tensed up, his eyes opening wide - the memory of the man’s last death resurfaced in Etho’s mind.
“That’s why She wanted me to kill Grian…?” the yellow one stood up.
“…It’s not all. Grian said he was trying to stop these… killing games, as well.” the red crossed his arms, trying to ignore his shaking hands.
“He what?” he guessed Martyn’s head was going a million miles an hour, just by the look in his eyes.
“He said the only way to stop the games is in the time between a game ends and the next one starts, so he’s trying to kill all of us. As quickly as he can.” the one with the scar resorted to hiding his hands in his pants’ pockets.
“…He also mentioned something like ‘they are always watching’, which I don’t think fits the description of the Moon, but… thought it was important enough.” Etho held back tears as he recalled that conversation.
“…Watching…? I need to speak to Grian.” the yellow one ran to the door.
“He will kill you on sight, Martyn. You’re the last yellow alive.” the red warned - the other one didn’t listen, running out of the place.

Chapter Text

The night had settled in and rain had stopped, as Etho crouched behind some bushes, careful not to slip and fall; careful not to make a sound. Martyn had run off and all the way to Magic Mountain - late Scar and Red Joel’s home.
Now, everything was quiet, aside from the yellow’s footsteps on the roof of the house on top of the cliff; the red didn’t understand what he was up to - Martyn had just cornered himself on top of a mountain.
And then, he did something worse.
Buckets in hand, he poured a glowing, red liquid downhill; lava slowly flowed down, lighting up the entire scene.
It was a matter of time until every red alive was there to kill him; Etho climbed up a particularly leafy tree, now at the same height as Martyn was while on top of the roof.

As he predicted, he heard voices coming a few minutes later. It sounded like Scott, Pearl, Cleo and, most likely, Ren.
They all surrounded the house, blades and bows ready as they’ve ever been.
“C’mon, Martyn! Let’s just get this over with!” Scott proposed, making a small tower to stand on for himself to aim better.
“Yeah dude! We’ll make it as painless as we can if you cooperate!” Ren followed, seemingly more worried than the other three.
Martyn doesn’t reply, trying to keep track of all four of the attackers - an impossible task.
Arrows rained on the blond, who limited himself to hide.
“Martyn, just give up already!” Pearl screamed.
“I can’t see him!” Cleo warned, moving around the house, bow tensed.
“Martyn, please! Join us to kill Grian and Joel!” Ren shouted, trying to go up the wet walls of the house and failing.
“Why’s Scott gone quiet?” Martyn shouted as well, his voice trembling in fear; tiles giving in under his feet, cornering him - that roof was never a safe place to be on.
“I don’t know, why have I gone quiet?” the blue-haired one chuckled, shooting yet another arrow.
“I don’t like this at all- you know how to freak me out!” the yellow screamed back.
“Silence is deafening~” Cleo hummed, her arrow piercing right through the poor yellow’s thigh, pinning him to the roof - unable to move.
“Silence is very deafening.” Pearl then appeared right next to Martyn, swinging her sword - she splashed him with a bucket full of lava, which made the yellow crawl backwards in pain.
After a single slice of her blade, Pearl pushed him off the roof, and with this, off the edge of the cliff, where lava flowed all the way down to the very bottom.

Etho watched Martyn panic mid-air, as he tried to get what he guessed was an enderpearl, and threw it to the horizon right as he landed on the lava waterfall - lightning struck right after, on that same spot.
There were officially no more yellow, nor green names - it was time for true massacre.

Etho only climbed back down when he was sure Scott, Pearl and Cleo had all left the mountain - Ren had stayed behind for some reason, but it was right what he needed.
“Hey, Ren.”
“I knew you were here since the moment I saw Scar’s house, just so you’re aware.” he smiled at him - Etho could read pity in his eyes. “Where did you leave your mask at, my dude? And why are you covered in… blood…?”
“…It’s a long story.” he lied, trying his hardest not to relive his friend’s death - images were going through his head once again, as painful as the first time.
“…Are you okay? Wanna tell me what happened?” Ren placed a hand on the other’s shoulder, his worry growing.
“…We should worry about the massacre that’s about to happen any second now.” Etho didn’t have the strength to pull his ally’s hand off him.
“Let them kill each other; we’ll fight less people that way, if you think about it.”
Ren was very insistent. Very, very insistent.
Etho sighed.
“Grian… he held him hostage, cause he wanted info. We gave him it, and… he still.. just, killed him- right in front of me.” it was hard to hold back tears as his voice cracked.
“Do you want me to help you get revenge?” Ren’s face was almost scary thanks to the lack of light. No smile nor happiness in sight. Not while his ally suffered.
“…I don’t know.”
“Do you want to win? Even if it’s not for yourself, do you want to try?”
Etho could feel the weight of the golden clock in one of his pockets, oddly somewhat comforting him.
And that was enough.
“…I do. For Bdubs. For Tango and Skizzle.” Etho let out a deep breath, calming himself down. The dog witnessed his ally’s confidence and pride shine in his eyes, for the first time in forever.
“Let’s make a deal, my dude. We stick together until the end. When us two are the only two alive, we have a little gentleman’s duel. No armor, no shield, just our swords.” he extended his hand, open and honest.
“Sounds like an honorable way to go out. Deal.” they both shook hands, standing as equals - something Etho didn’t think he would have anymore.
“That’s so good to hear. I promise, we will have that duel, you and I!” Ren’s dog-like tail started to wag behind him, lightening the mood overall - the forest didn’t seem so dark now.
The silver-haired smiled, gently tightening the moss-like jacket he had tied around his waist; not in a grieving way this time.
And lightning struck in the middle of the rainy night - they both tensed up, making the silent decision of heading over to the center of the place, Spawn.

It wasn’t a pretty sight to arrive at.
A giant crater greeted the two, decorated with bloodshed around it - Cleo’s lifeless body laid on the floor, as they witnessed Pearl and Scott charge at Grian, who seemed incredibly injured; the avian entered the forest to never be seen again.

Lightning struck behind the newly arrived, who jumped by the sudden noise.
“Hey Etho!” Joel screamed, his axe swinging from up to down, right to left - the mentioned tripped, poorly dodging the weapon who would’ve otherwise chopped his head off.
However, the axe kept swinging, and Ren wasn’t as lucky. The blade hit his shoulder, knocking him on the ground with a grunt of surprise and pain.
Joel went to swing a second time, but the one on the ground was able to stop the blow with his own blade, as well as slowly getting back up again.
“Etho! Go! I have this covered!” Ren shouted, unable to take his eyes off the one with the axe, who smiled confidently.
Etho guessed that it would be an even, if not won, battle between those two, and slowly got up and ran away, just like his ally said; his eyes fixed in a shadow that approached, clumsily trying to go unnoticed - Martyn was entering the battlefield.

The silver-haired ran towards Pearl and Scott, who were standing still in the same place Grian had been last seen, seemingly worried.
“What’s up over here?” he asked, following their glance to the forest.
“Grian’s body isn’t there, but lightning still struck.” Pearl explained, her arms crossed.
“Everyone else’s body stayed after their final death.” Scott pointed out “So this makes no sense. It’s not because he’s not human, either, ‘cause Cleo’s a zombie, and she’s right there.” all three looked at the cold body; Etho felt his blood freeze.
“...How are you all okay with just seeing your friends dead…?” he muttered.
“What are you talking about? We’ll see her alive and well again when this ends, on the other side.” she said “You’ll also be able to see her, Etho.”
“Or when a new game starts, in my case. She’s not gone forever.” the blue-haired added.
A question struck the loner’s mind, his heart climbing up to his throat - that was the system of the game, he knew that.
But Bdubs had already broken the life system with his crimson life.
What if…?
What if he’s gone, forever…?
“Etho? ‘You good there?” Pearl and Scott were now staring at him, and he didn’t know why - until his skin felt a cold, wet trail stream down his face. He rushed to dry it, trying to ignore the concerned looks in the others’ eyes.

A loud thud interrupted the clashing of metal that had worked as background noise.
All three turned to see Ren lying on the ground, pinned by the neck by one of Joel’s knees, axe held over them both. An axe that swung down.
Blood splattered in the distance as Etho ran towards the scene, being far too late.
Joel stepped away from an immobile Ren.
Lightning burnt the body, and with it, all hope the rest could have.
But sadness could only last so long, and the scarred had grown out of it.
Instead, said anxiety, guilt, loneliness; it evolved into pure, raw anger.
Anger that pushed him to unsheathe his sword, charging against the murderer.
Murderer that stood still, his axe dripping blood in his hand; a disgusting, prideful smile in his face. He swore he’d tear that smile apart with his own hands.
Etho swung his blade, the other dodging by crouching. The king struck back by swinging his axe, which clashed against the other’s weapon.
They battled until Joel stepped back, just to swing once more - the other rolled in the ground, the weapon now stuck in the floor.
Finally, Joel was weaponless - the scarred got on his knees, and stabbed nothing but air.
The enemy was nowhere in sight.
And then, a familiar cold, sharp pain from behind.
Blood started to drip as the blade was pulled out - his heart had been the target, and the sword had gone right through it.
He was forced to have his hands on the ground, so as to not fall over and collapse.
“You forgot I had a sword?” Joel mocked, making the other’s anger grow, fueled by powerlessness.
“You’re going down…” he muttered, trying to stand up - the one with the crown knocked him down, his foot on his back; pinning him to the wet, grass field.
Just like he had just watched him do to his friend.

And then, footsteps - someone running towards them.
Etho felt the pressure on his back lift, but his limbs felt numb, and his chest wet - it was his blood, he realized.
“You’re dead, Joel!” Scott shouted, followed by the clanging of metal - swords.
What sounded like glass shattered nearby, the metal sounds stopping - and the sound of meat being stabbed.
“I’ll be kind, unlike you. Last words?”
“I regret nothing.” and a slice followed by a thud - Etho wasn’t able to see, but lightning struck where the thud was heard.
Joel had died.
“Etho? Are you okay?” Scott kneeled beside him, his face filled with worry.
“...I never got to have a duel with Ren…” he whispered, energy leaving his body, now that the battle was over.
He felt like he was slowly dozing off.
Because anger could only fuel him for so long, and that time was long gone.
“...Etho? Don’t leave, c’mon.” Pearl said - when had she gotten so close? - also crouching next to him.
“...Can you turn me around? I wanna see the sky.”
“It’s raining, but… sure.” and so they pulled him up by one of the shoulders, and turned him upwards - he felt his back getting wet, but it didn’t matter. Not now, not anymore.
Rain drops landed on his face, tickling him.
It was a nice feeling.
“...Can I say… one last thing…?” he asked, his eyes failing him - it was all fading black.
“What is it?”
He finally closed his eyes, his breaths more and more spaced out in time, until they eventually stopped all together. The only people left in the battlefield now were Martyn, Pearl and Scott.

…’Thank you for avenging Bdubs.’

But he wakes up.
Etho wakes up in a void.

Chapter Text

“Hello?” Etho’s voice echoed infinitely.
“We have been watching you.” a second, barely human voice replied. “You have done interesting things.”
“What do you mean? Who are you?”
“We are those who watch. We are the eyes in the Sky.”
“The ones who watch…” Etho muttered to himself. “Are you here to answer my questions?”
“It depends on what you question.”
He took a deep breath.
“What happened with Bdubs? Why was he… on half a life?” he heard the creature doubt before answering.
“It is uncertain. But it will not happen again.”
“And Grian? Why do you hate him?” this time, he heard a grunt.
“Hm. Him. He was never meant to be there. He was only ever meant to watch.”
…
“...Watch? Like you do? Like you promised Martyn and Ren they would?” everything started connecting in his ghostly mind.
“We never promised such a thing. They are… too simple, too feeble, to join us in the Shadow. They’re… better at listening.”
“...What are you implying? Am I in the Shadow right now?”
“No. You’re no different from them. Why else would you join their team twice?”
Slowly, yet consistently, the deep dark void had been fading to white, and now, it had gone fully white, painful to the eyes.
“Goodbye, Etho. We will meet you again.”

Grian, covered in what seemed to be his own blood, kneeled in the middle of a forest - the forest he dissapeared in.
“Why did you keep me here?” he felt so, so alone. The other voice was not hearable.
“Punishment? I’ve said so many times how these games are not the solution.”
“Oh c’mon! there has to be something Other than my friends to feast on.”
Grian’s face paled.
“…And… do animals not work? Or plants?”
The avian started to tremble, powerless.
“Is eating that necessary? we go months without it between games, anyway-“
…
“…No, I don’t want to be forgotten…”

“Why can’t I leave this place?”
“Two friends? ON HARDCORE MODE? FOR HOW MANY HOURS?”
Grian stood up, furious.
“I don’t care if you’ll reset the seed or not! LET ME OUT!” he’s pushed to the floor by an invisible force. And the world changed around him.
He opened his eyes, a tall, leafy spruce tree forest now stood around him, compared to the oak one he was previously in.

With a timer now on his wrist, a single life, and his two closest allies during the games - Scar and Joel - being close around, not remembering a thing, Grian started his survival, once again.
One that wouldn’t end well.