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“Cho, come on!” Second called, waving his hands in the air.
“Hurry up!”
Chosen chuckled and quickened his pace a little. What he was hurrying for he had no idea, but the younger hollowhead seemed eager to explore.
It was a pretty good day, so Second decided to come visit Chosen in the outernet.
Insisting on not being cramped indoors, the two agreed on going on a quiet walk in the woods nearby. The younger looked like he was having a good time and was letting all his hyper energy out, and occasionally acted like a silly child.
The behavior kind of reminded him of someone else.
An image of Dark flitted through his mind. Chosens smile wavered a little. He watched as Second dashed a few steps forward and waited for him to catch up. Chosen remembered Dark rushing forward in a similar manner, urging him to faster.
“Chosen, let's go!” Dark-no, Second, yelled. Chosen suddenly felt a bit weak in the stomach because of the nostalgia. Seconds bright orange shifted shade of red, then glitched back.
“Cho?” Seconds' concerned voice knocked him back into reality. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah…” Chosen flashed a small, wobbly smile at his brother. He wasn't going to let a stupid memory ruin this moment.
“Let's…. Keep moving.”
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“Cho, look at that big tree!”
”I see it, Second.” Chosen mused, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Now what do you want me to do, climb it?”
“Yes!” Second responded, literal stars shining in his eyes. “We could race! Although,” Second added in a joking tone. “I think I will win. I did have a lot of experience in Minecraft.”
Chosen held back a snort of laughter. ‘Nah,’ he said, ‘I've had experience too, so don't be so sure.’
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‘Chosen, help!’
Chosen turned his head towards his brother. He was clinging on to one of the branches nearer to the ground, so he wouldn't hurt himself even if he fell.
He clearly didn't want to go any higher, and the older hollow head couldn't help but take this as a teasing opportunity.
‘Not so experienced, huh?’
‘Oh, shut up,’ Second muttered, ‘The trees here aren't like the ones in Minecraft.’
‘Hah. So I win.’
Second pouted, visibly annoyed. Chosen jumped down -since using fire would be rather hazardous- and landed safely next to Second.
‘Well, if you want, I could teach you how to climb a tree.’
‘Okay..’
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‘First of all, stand on this branch.’
Second placed a wobbly foot on the low branch. Still shaking, he put his other leg down as well.
‘Good job. Now grab onto that branch up there…’
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Halfway up the tree, Chosen was reaching his hand out to heave Second to the next offshoot.
‘Chosen?’ Second called, voice slightly trembling.
‘Hm?’
‘Chosen, what if I fall?’
The hollowhead stared at the younger, orange clad sibling. They locked eyes for a few moments in awkward silence.
Finally Chosen responded, ‘If you fall, Second, get back up,’ he said firmly. ‘Don't let one fall stop you.’
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After hours of climbing, the two brothers reached the top at last.
They watched as the sun slowly shifted lower and lower on the horizon, not quite gone yet.
Chosen felt Second lean his tired head against his shoulder.
This felt nice, Chosen internally decided. He tilted his head onto Second and shut his eyes.
They stayed like that for a bit.