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Air whished through the air, aided by a distant rumbling reminiscent of an earthquake.
The rumbling stopped, leaving behind a slight drizzle.
It started again, louder, bolder, as if it challenged Ren’s kingship or Doc’s charged-creeper contraptions or maybe a proclamation that this new shopping district was Aqua Town 2.0.
All the lampposts, torches, and candles went out. Glowstone no longer shone, acting much like a redstone lamp.
The small bedroom was dark. Strikingly dark. Perfect for mob spawns.
And it wasn’t safe.
The ground rumbled again, adding to that not-safeness. And of course, it probably wasn’t the ground that was shaking, rather it was the storm closing in that made it feel and sound like an earthquake. Even still, Bdubs checked outside his monolith in confirmation that the moon hadn’t changed sizes.
It’s safe.
But it’s dark.
Mobs rattled and moaned in the upstairs room, ready to rip Bdubs to shreds when he tried to get rid of them all. So much from 1.18, where everything was supposed to be safe with the new lighting.
But there was no light.
And the darkness enclosed on Bdubs, trapping him, ready to eat him up if he stepped foot out of bed.
And he could feel the shaking of his heart, the tremble in him though he was lying down.
“It’s not safe. It’s not safe.”
Those words sat on repeat, slow and quiet at first, but quickly amplifying and speeding up, overwhelming all other areas of thought.
“We’re all going to die. We’ll get stuck on death loops— there’s no way to stop the spawns. There’s no—”
And soon he was near hyperventilating, stopping only when firm hands held against his chest, actions and words by this person contrasting in the manner of a calm voice used. “BdoubleO, baby, my right hand man, my dude, it’s okay. I’ve got you.” Ren forced him in his arms, squeezing all the life out of him.
“It’s dark.”
“I know it is. I know. I had to kill a few mobs just to get down here.” Ren rocked him in place, still tightly gripping onto him, with the right contrast of comfort and firmness. “It’s crazy out there.” He refrained from raising his voice, Bdubs noticed.
“It’s not safe.”
Ren shook his head. “Really isn’t.” He loosened his grip on Bdubs enough that he could slip his comm out of his pocket and click on one of the contacts. There was a small jingle, a new ringtone to sound a bit more majestic now that he was king.
It wasn’t too long before the call was answered. Though it was hard to tell who it was, as Ren didn’t put it on speakerphone.
“Going to need you to come upstairs. The lighting’s glitched out up here. Bdubs isn’t… doing great, glare issues and stuff.”
A pause.
“Ok. Thank you!”
The comm clicked, and Ren closed it up, quickly wrapping his arms around Bdubs again. “Etho’s coming up in a minute. We’ll hunker down in the dungeon.”
Bdubs nodded, though still not much more relieved than before. “Light?”
“Sorry. I don’t know when we’ll be getting light.”
That unsettled feeling bubbled up again, almost making Bdubs sick to his stomach. Again, the darkness was closing in, and there was no light to fight back. The monsters would only continue to add up and there was nothing they could do.
“We need light. It’s dark. It’s dark.”
“Super dark,” Ren answered, though with much more confidence than Bdubs did.
“The monsters— there’s monsters upstairs and they’ll kill us.”
“There are monsters upstairs. But they can’t do more than ruin a build and get us a bit hurt. We’ll kill them too.”
There wasn’t a rebuttal to be made when Ren was so sure it’d be fine. And even the times he agreed that it was incredibly dark — it was almost a reassurance.
“There’s no light. It’s… dark…”
“‘tis true.” Ren managed to not freak out, not even react to the way Bdubs further curled inward on himself, even going as far as to cry.
“I’m scared.”
“It’s scary.” The reply was more helpful than harmful, as if to say that all those feelings were still valid though a small rational part wanted to stuff down this fear of darkness because it was childish in nature. “But, you’re doing a great job, see? You’re still alive. You’re not panicking. You’re present.” Ren said it as if he were proud of Bdubs, and it only helped the painful bubbling of fear settle down into something like a light simmer.
“I’m doing a—?” Bdubs finally found his voice, feeling like he was the one saying it more so than instinct.
“Yep. You’re talking to me, right now, in the middle of an incredibly dark world, and you’re okay!” Ren gave him another tight squeeze, speaking still with that silly grin.
But this wasn’t “okay”— Bdubs really shouldn’t be bothered by the dark or its inhabitants. He shouldn’t need help handling it. He shouldn’t need someone else there to keep him grounded.
And it wasn’t okay that he could feel himself start to break down into an almost silent cry. Because Ren didn’t deserve that after being more than Bdubs deserved.
“I’m sorry.” The words came out with some of the uncomfortable bubbles, coming out watered down and weak and light and fearful and upset.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Ren said, still that same, even tone. Not shocked at the apology (or the thoughts behind it). “And look, Etho’s here! More the merrier!”
Bdubs fought a smile as the bed weighed down a little more. He shouldn’t need anyone. He wasn’t little, he wasn’t in need of help.
“I’m still trying to figure out how to get the lights back on. Flint and steel keeps the candle on for about five seconds and then it burns out again. But I’ve spawn-proofed the area with string and carpet and glass, so we should be safe.”
Bdubs felt another hand against his back, more comforting, gentle pressure.
And the darkness had to fight to keep his attention.
“Safe?” The words sort of bubbled out against his will, the simmer losing heat.
“Yep.”
“We can go down there, if you’d like,” Ren said, only gently pushing the idea.
Bdubs nodded, and soon the group was making their way down the stairs, Etho ahead of the two to take out the mobs, and Ren behind Bdubs, keeping careful watch of him.
The dangers seemed to be mostly gone, and as they walked down to the dungeon, it was really much less of a dungeon, because, as Etho said, it was now spawn proofed.
At the far back, in the small room now carved out, was a full-blown blanket fort, crafted with wooden fenceposts carefully wedged into the ground and woolen blankets covering the whole thing and even spilling across the floor.
It looked safe.
It was dark, but it was safe.
Bdubs ran into it, curling up under the blankets inside the fort, finding a small place to nestle into. “Thank you,” he said, muffled by the soft materials surrounding him.
The was a mild rumbling from above, as if to taunt them. And the rain started to pour, though quiet from the layers of dirt and stone between here and the surface. Both that and the darkness had nothing on him.
In a moment, both Etho and Ren found their way into a spot in the fort, also comfortably curled up in its glory.
It was safe.