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Tango bolted upright, gasping for air. His eyes darted around wildly as his arm grasped the branches of the tree beneath him.
As he sat, panting in the quiet of the forest, his mind slowly exited its panicked state. He was just in the woods. It was safe now.
He was in the woods… "Oh no."
"WHAT HAPPENED, TANGO?" Tango flinched as Jimmy stepped out from behind a tree, clearly out of breath and upset, a scar taking up half of his face. His hands were still shaking and his pupils were narrowed. Tango couldn't tell if Jimmy was about to attack him or break down in tears, and Tango wasn't ready for either.
"Ah- Hi! Hi!" Tango got down from the tree, careful not to get any more injuries. Jimmy didn't move, waiting for Tango to speak. "I'm- so sorry."
Jimmy was clearly not satisfied with this answer. Voice still shaking, he asked, "H- Take me through it, what's- What's happened there?"
Tango could tell he was walking on thin ice. "Well, there was some caving, and then there might've been about seven zombies and a spider and-" Jimmy's hand clenched into a fist.
"So- You just- Got one upped by caving?"
Caught up in his memories, Tango went on. "And then- And then I was focusing on the army approaching me from one direction, and, uh, yeah. The old creeper-from-behind trick." He laughed nervously.
Jimmy closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Oh my gosh-"
"I'm so sorry-"
"Tango, I was off in the mountains, and all of a sudden I get scratches all over me, so I think to myself 'That's fine, my soulmate's probably just fighting some mobs or something,' AND THEN I BLOW UP!" Tango flinched once more as Jimmy raised his voice. Jimmy's eyes looked panicked, as though he had been the one surrounded on all sides by the undead instead of Tango. His hands were raised up as he breathed heavily, his arms still shaking. The scar on his face seemed illuminated by his now yellow eyes.
Tango huffed, upset by this outburst. "Jimmy, you've died from Creeper blasts millions of times. I got caught off guard, okay? It won't happen again." He looked up at Jimmy, holding his gaze. Tango was not about to be chewed out when he had lost a life too.
After a pause, Jimmy let out a breath and looked away. "Fine. You know what? Meet back here after we grab our stuff, we don't have time for this." And with that, Jimmy ran off towards the mountains to gather his lost gear.
Tango watched him for a bit before turning to collect his own items. "What was up with that anyway? He had no reason to be so worked up, I lost a life too. I'm sorry that we're the first people to lose lives this series, but that doesn't mean we can't still win. He has no reason to be angry with me."
Thoughts like these filled his mind as he traveled towards the mob-filled caves.
***
Tango was walking along the path that led up to the Relation-Ship, admiring the quality of a trail made in a world not created for beauty. "Look at this fancy path, who took the time to do this?"
He sighed, recalling his recent conversation with his soulmate. They were plotting revenge, once again, because someone had stolen their horses, once again, and they needed to make it clear that-
Tango's thoughts were abruptly halted as he felt several deep gashes rake across his torso. He took a sharp breath in and looked down at his already red shirt, watching his crimson blood seep through.
He let out a groan as the throbbing pain set in. This was the fifth session, and yet he still couldn't get over the unnatural sensation of being injured by an invisible force. And while Jimmy had given him worse wounds than this, Tango couldn't help but feel that these scratch marks were a little deep-
As he thought this, another set of scratches raked at his side. "No!" He gasped as he crumpled onto his knees, able to recognize the wounds that grazed his ribcage to be from an Enderman. "No! Nono!"
As the deep wound stung him, his mind panicked, his muscles tensing up, and he waited for the next blow. After a pause, he sighed, expecting the worst of it to be over, before-
"Ow! NOO!" He was shaking now, blood pouring from another set of gashes that tore at his already wounded torso. He could hardly think through the panic and the pain.
What is Jimmy doing, why is he killing us, why isn't he being careful, why would he fight something so much more powerful than him, why, why, WHY?
Tango couldn't do anything. He sat there, completely alone, as his flesh was torn apart by a creature he couldn't defend himself from. He was helpless.
Then, he felt it. The long, pointed fingers of an Enderman, speared into his abdomen, wrenching into his vital organs. This was the deathblow.
"No…" Tango fell to the side, shaking as he watched the pool of his own blood grow in size. Tears glistened in his eyes. There was no one there. He was completely alone. How could Jimmy leave him to such a fate?
As his panicked breaths became smaller, a memory went through Tango's mind. It was only a few weeks ago, but with all that had happened, it felt like decades. He could vividly see the expression of his soulmate, standing next to a tree, hands shaking with anger.
No, not anger. Fear. Jimmy had been just as afraid as Tango was now. Doomed to die, alone, not being able to do a single thing as your life, wound by wound, is stripped away from you.
A tear slipped down Tango's cheek as he closed his eyes from the blurry red scene in front of him. He wished he could apologize to Jimmy. Apologize for not being there to comfort him when he needed it the most, after showing up at spawn. And now Tango was suffering the same fate.
A small sob turned into a cough. He could feel his consciousness fading. As he lay there on the ground, heartbeat slowing down and red eyes fading to white, Tango managed to whisper his last words, to Jimmy, to himself, to whoever was listening on this lonely, empty, path.
"It's over.
Go home."