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Jevin was starting to think he should’ve just gone home after the first hour of aimless wandering. This swamp was much larger than it looked on the outside, and, unsurprisingly, devoid of anything interesting. So, yeah, perhaps he should’ve turned back by now, but he was already half a day in and, well…
If he was being honest with himself, Jevin lost track of which way he came from several hours ago.
“You’d think that there’d be at least something interesting in here, but nooo!” He grumbled, scowling down at his soggy shoes that would probably be caked with mud for all of eternity. His sneakers squelched uncomfortably whenever he took a step and his pants were soaked through from when he had sunk too deep in the mud. Not to mention his hoodie– why past-Jevin had thought it’d be a good idea to bring a white hoodie to a swamp was beyond him. It protected him from the scratchy bark for all of thirty minutes before it got too hot to wear. Next time, he would come prepared, or better yet, save the exploring for when he had an elytra.
At least it’s not a mangrove biome, he reasoned. At least the trees here have room to walk between .
He was suddenly made aware of the lack of fauna and noise as he slashed through a blockade of particularly thick vines. There was no birdsong, no fish in the water, no snakes slithering through the sludge underfoot. Silence was a rare commodity on Hermitcraft, and now that he found himself experiencing it he decided he prefered the ever present buzz of community to… whatever this was. A breeze that should have ruffled the leaves did nothing but make him shiver at the sudden chill.
Awareness of the weird lack of sounds wouldn’t change the fact that he didn’t know where he was going.
“Look on the brightside, Jevin! At least there are no mobs,” the blond muttered to himself, refusing to acknowledge how creeped out he felt. He ignored the squelching sound of his footsteps that seemed much louder now that he was, apparently, the only entity for miles.
Maybe he should be grateful for the lack of mobs. If he were to be killed now there was no way he’d find his items before they despawn.
Maybe, just maybe, Jevin was utterly and hopelessly lost.
“...Shouldn’t I have run into a slime by now?” he wondered aloud. Jevin hasn’t seen any slimes so far. Maybe the lack of mobs was why he was so bored. Sure, slimes were annoying to kill ( whatever higher being decided to make them multiply needed to be fired, seriously ) but at least it would add some activity to this mind numbingly boring trip.
Just as he slashed his sword through another bout of thick vines ( honestly, what was going on? This was worse than mangrove roots at this point! ), a variation in the landscape caught his eye. Dark wood stood out against the dull greens and browns of the oak trees surrounding it. It was a rickety shack, leaning just a bit too far to the left and supported by stilts, standing in the middle of a small clearing. A black bird soared above the trees before landing on the roof of the structure.
The bird let out a loud CAW and every single sound returned to him in a rush, causing him to startle. Birds and bugs resumed their chirping and buzzing, the breeze continued to rustle oak leaves, and Jevin could hear an unidentified mob wandering through the mud in the distance. He shuddered, turning around in a circle to see if his surroundings had suddenly changed- and, no, it was as if someone had hit the ‘unmute’ button in his brain. Mildly concerning, to say the least.
There’s nothing creepy about a mysterious – probably cursed – hut in the middle of an unexplored swamp.
“Okayyy… Hello?” Jevin called out, (his voice did not shake, thank you very much,) he looked around the clearing as his hand went to rest on the sword sheathed at his hip. Nobody returned his greeting. Usually this type of swamp hut came with a witch, and even if Jevin hadn’t seen anything like that so far he wasn’t foolish enough to walk into a witch hut without making sure it was safe.
The hut itself didn’t look very threatening, aside from the shoddy construction. It sat alone, the area around it looking as if it may have once been a larger clearing, but the trees had begun to reclaim the area over time. Moss swallowed a large portion of the shingled roof, threatening to cover the entire thing in green. Thick vines hung from the gutter, dislocating several shingles where they had taken root, and some vines had branched off to greet the kudzu plastered to much of the exterior. There were several visible holes, not to mention the crumbling dark oak that the entire house was made out of.
It seemed abandoned and left to rot. He was more likely to get a splinter than meet a witch.
“Well, it’s the only interesting thing I've seen in awhile...” Jevin told himself as he cautiously approached the hut. He noted the absence of footprints dotting the muddy path that led to the entrance of the structure. It hadn’t rained during the time Jevin was wandering throughout the swamp, so if anyone had walked through, it couldn't have been recent.
The wooden steps creaked as he ducked under the doorframe to avoid the spider webs and their inhabitants. Oh, yeah, it was definitely abandoned. The only furniture to decorate the interior of the hut was a wooden table, small enough he would be tempted to call it a stool had it been just a slab shorter, and a single chair. Both were, strangely, made of the same dark oak as the rest of the building. In the corner there was an old bed with moth-eaten sheets that had clearly seen better days.
A thick layer of dust that had accumulated over time covered every surface he could see in the room, swirling in the air from where he had disturbed. Jevin raised his arm over his nose to stifle a sneeze he felt brewing. Great. Now, not only was he lost, but he would have to deal with allergies.
Jevin’s eyes shot to a small row of cabinets in the other corner of the room, which he hadn’t noticed before. The monochromatic dark oak color palette had caused them to blend in with the walls the same way everything else had. A small cauldron sat on its side below the row of cabinets, as if it had been kicked to the corner in frustration. It was the only thing about the building that particularly screamed “witch,” and even then, plenty of the hermits used a cauldron or two as decoration. Or as a soup pot. Maybe this was just an abandoned hermit starter base?
He glanced around one last time before making his way over to the cabinets and giving in to his curiosity. Jevin opened the door, who’s hinges almost begged to be oiled, and six brightly colored potions greeted him.
They were the only thing in the hut that weren’t covered in a thick layer of dust. The potions shone unnaturally bright, just as they always did. The colors in one of them shifted from a bright red to an even brighter pink, the ever present shimmer of a glistening melon letting him know it was a health potion when he looked closely. Jevin was not an expert when it came to potions by any means, but if he racked his brain he could remember Impulse saying they don’t spoil easily – and it could be useful for the trip home.
“It’s not like anybody’s using you right now…” Jevin reasoned. “I’m sure the brewer wouldn’t mind if I just took a couple.” He plucked up one of the potions, which he recognized as regeneration. “Why would a witch leave behind all of these potions? Fire resistance, strength, weakness? This is a jackpot!” Jevin takes back everything he said about the swamp trip. His new loot almost made it worth it. Next issue– how would he fit them all in his bag?
His inventory spilled out of his bag as he unceremoniously dumped his things on the tiny table. The dark wood creaked (everything in this place must be ancient ,) but the table held its weight, which he took as a good sign. Maybe if he arranged the items a certain way? No, that wouldn’t work — despite it holding more items than a normal bag of its size would, he still had the inventory limit to worry about. Maybe he should leave the map, which had no use to him since he was so far away from the chunk it showed. So, leave the map and keep the compass… oh, he had a compass? That might be useful soon…
“ What are you doing here?! ” A person wearing a basic pointed hat (a witch?) screeched from where they stood in the doorway. Jevin must have been so deep in his own thoughts he didn’t hear them coming. Their clothes were stained the same bright colors as the potions in the cabinet, and in their arms they carried a large basket filled to the brim with different plants, which would probably be used for a potion. It ended up being a good thing, because their full arms must have been the only thing stopping the witch from attacking him at the moment. Jevin startled, instinctively reaching for the sword at his belt.
The witch looked between Jevin and the potions on the table, eyes widening as they took in the situation at hand. “Are- are you… stealing from me?!” They asked incredulously
“Well, no. I mean, technically, yes, but no- I didn’t think anyone lived here!” Jevin defended, gesturing towards the general emptiness of the interior.
“Oh!” they put a hand over their heart and feigned a gasp, “So you thought there was a random hut in the middle of nowhere filled with fresh potions and my personal belongings just… what, collecting dust?”
“...I mean, everything in here is collecting dust.”
That was, evidently, the wrong thing to say, because in one fluid motion the witch dropped their basket and pulled a potion out of thin air, as creatures like witches and skeletons tended to do. The potion glowed a sickly neon green, standing out against the otherwise dark hut. Jevin absently wondered what it was– he’d never seen anything anywhere near that hue in a potion before.
The witch’s arm drew back to throw it, and Jevin only just managed to shield his face with his arms before the potion smashed against the ground, sending shards of glass scattering everywhere.
Jevin sucked in a breath as he went through his admittedly lackluster, but handy, mental checklist of potion effects. No sudden spell of nausea ( check! ), no sharp pain in his chest ( check! ), but his vision was swimming like he’d been poisoned ( uh oh! ). His skin stung where several stray glass shards had grazed his arms. If the witch had used a splash potion, the glass would have dissipated before it could cause an injury, so they must have just thrown a regular bottle. Rude.
Just as he opened his mouth to complain, bright green lights began to swirl in his vision, intensifying for a moment before fading slowly as the seconds passed. Other than that, Jevin felt… normal? Either the potion didn’t work because it was splashed instead of drunk, or whatever they had thrown was not very effective.
The witch, likewise, seemed stunned that nothing happened.
“What did… Was that supposed to do something?” Jevin asked after a beat of awkward staring. They didn’t move to attack him further, which was odd, to say the least.
“I don’t understand- that should’ve worked! It should have… ugh…” The witch muttered, staring at Jevin with narrowed eyes.
“Uh, maybe you accidentally threw a jump boost potion?” Jevin nervously suggested, voice rising in pitch at the end. He gripped the handle of his sword tightly, watching the witch pace and mutter to themself.
They simply glared at him, like he was an idiot for even suggesting that. …And, to be fair, Jevin didn’t know enough about potions to tell if he was being a bit of an idiot.
“I’m not foolish enough to throw the wrong potion. If anything, you're the problem here!”
“Woah, hey now! No need to be rude about it,” Jevin frowned, before adding, “Just because your stupid potion didn’t work doesn’t mean you need to go around blaming me.” His words were lost on them as they turned away, wildly muttering to themself. Jevin shifted awkwardly listening to them go on about how " that should’ve worked !” and “ Maybe it doesn't work on non-mob entities? ” Jevin even heard a “ Oh, he’ll get what’s coming to him soon enough, ” thrown in there, which he did not like.
After a long stretch of Jevin debating whether or not he could sneak past the witch without getting seriously injured, their eyes snapped back to him. “ You . You've just wasted my research! You and your- your immunity…” With a quiet tsk , they looked at him with disgust.
“Dude, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jevin said, now more confused than ready for a fight. He furrowed his brows. Were all witches supposed to be so… conversational? Usually mobs did nothing but try to kill the player, but this one seemed strangely sentient. He would almost mistake them for a player, but they had no visible inventory. The witch had neither a bag nor an inventory menu, which proved they must have been a mob.
They barked a laugh, a crazed and sharp sound. “Soon, you will, soon.” He didn’t like the way it sounded like a promise. The witch pulled a familiar looking orb, from, once again, what seemed like thin air. With the accuracy of a minecraft aimbot they tossed the ender pearl deep into the heart of the swamp. They glared at him one last time before dissipating into purple particles, leaving Jevin alone in the now truly abandoned hut.
“That was… weird.” He concluded. This entire trip has been weird, for lack of a better word. Jevin didn’t think mobs made experimental potions, or if they did, they didn’t typically use them in combat. Not that the encounter could truly be considered combat , but the point still stood. Not only that, but they weren’t interested in fighting him. Actually, Jevin doubted this was their actual home, so maybe it was a brewing hut?
Whatever, it’s not like I’ll see them again anyways, Jevin thought, and decided to ignore the red flags. He quickly stuffed his items back into his bag, hands pausing briefly over the potions that had ended up being the cause of his troubles. Should he take them with him? It felt a lot more like stealing now that Jevin knew someone was using them…
After a moment of consideration, Jevin packed them up anyway. He deserved some potions after that.
—------
By the time he finally got back to his base, the moon was already crawling its way to the highest point in the sky. Jevin sighed as he realized he wasted more than an entire day wandering through a stinky swamp. Sure, it was nice to be back on dry land, but he could have stayed on dry land the entire day and been more productive. From his starter base Jevin could just make out the bright lights coming from the shopping district. They lit up the night sky, and he paused for a minute to take in the view.
There was bound to be a hermit doing some late night shopping– they all shared a horrible sleep schedule, aside from Bdubs– and Jevin would be lying if he told himself he wanted to keep the events of the day a secret. But the thought of walking all the way to the shopping district made his legs ache, so the only place Jevin would be going anytime soon was straight to bed.
Jevin pushed his front door open, before tossing his bag to the side with a sigh. He deposited his shoes next to the door, not wanting to track mud and debris through his house.
“Aw, man,” Jevin muttered, frowning at the formerly white sneakers. Were they even worth trying to clean? Ugh, probably not…
Before anything, though, he needed a shower. Jevin was sick and tired of the feeling of dirt on his skin.
What seemed like hours later, he heaved a sigh of relief as he watched the last of the grime go down the shower drain. For a while, he thought he would end up being muddy forever– he even had mud in his hair (how that happened, Jevin had no idea.)
“Never again,” Jevin vowed to himself as he dried his hair with a towel. Turning toward the mirror above his sink, he nodded to solidify the promise. The man in the bathroom mirror nodded solemnly along with him, his hair the blonde it was supposed to be, rather than brown with mud.
Swamps were not his friend. Swamps were full of mud and ruined the clothes he entered with. Swamps ended with the loss of his favorite shoes and newly vivid green eyes. Swamps had weird sentient witches and-
Wait.
Green eyes?
Last he checked, his eyes were gray. Not the vibrant, almost sickly, neon green that was staring back at him.
“...I’m sure it’s fine,” Jevin whispered. Go to a swamp, meet a witch, get splashed with a mystery potion, and gain a strange new eye color. It’s normal.
This is fine.
Everything is fine.
…Jevin is never going into another swamp again.