Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

An explosion was the last thing Blue heard before everything went black.

There was a Wither, smoke, and black skulls flying everywhere. He saw Red rebound a skull with his sword only to be hit by another one.

Then he saw Second diving in front of another skull, shielding Yellow with his body as both fell to the floor.

Blue wanted to help, he rushed towards them before being knocked out by a skull.

At least, in his dreams he could be somewhere else away from the chaos, a nice place with a big field of crops growing peacefully, surrounded by his friends and his favorite food.

A place without withers or monsters and pain.

Blue liked his dreams-

— Wake the fuck up!!! — Green yelled at his face, making Blue's eyes snap open, oh yes, he wasn't in a nice peaceful field right now.

Blue didn't get a chance to talk or even create a single thought before Second run by them, yanking Blue to his feet and pulling him along as they ran.

The creature was unrelenting, as if its only goal in life was putting each one of his friends in a coffin. 

Blue sometimes forgot how strong Second truly was, creating shields to protect everyone at each step.

They actually had a chance, if the Wither had mercy. One of the heads seemed to aim for Second Coming this time, finally understanding that he was the issue.

Everyone seemed to move in slow motion for a moment. Blue's eyes moved from Second to his friends, as everyone rushed towards him.

They were going to die. They were all going to die.

Second seemed to also come to that conclusion because his eyes went the brightest green, and Blue lost his footing, falling backwards into what could only be called a portal.

There was explosions and painful groans  reaching his ears as he fell.

He instinctively reached a hand towards the opening, but before he had the chance to do anything, he hit the ground with so much force, the cracking noise that reached his mind and the agony that followed immediately knocked him out again.

—Up Blue, come on now... — Yellow's voice reached his ears, and cold hands slowly pulled him to sit up. — This is no place for dying...

Blue's only reply was a groan of pain, his head was pounding and he felt a burning feeling in his entrails, like he had swallowed acid.

— Where are we?.. — Blue managed to mumble, eyes slowly coming back to focus on the strange amount of sand under his body.

— A desert of some kind.. — Yellow said, finally standing straight and looking around. There was no one in sight. — Second must have sent us away....

Blue shakily got to his feet, his vision went white with the hot burning pain in his side. He doubled over, before lifting his shirt to reveal a nasty looking injury, the blackness seeping through his skin.

Withering poison.

— Fuck... — Blue groaned, looking over at Yellow who also seemed to have a few injuries of his own. — What do we do now?..

Yellow sighed grimacing at his friend's wound before grabbing his backpack from the sand and tapping it to clean it off. — We walk, Blue... We walk until we find a place to rest... Desert days are brutal, but the night will be cruel... We can't waste time...

Blue already dreaded the experience, but he pulled his own backpack over his shoulders and started walking, ignoring the feel of sand going down his back.

The first half a hour was awful, Blue was starting to sweat profusely and it was causing his clothes to stick to his skin and worst, his wound.

Neither had packed much water, nor food. And the Sun seemed adamant to cook both alive after two hours of walking.

Blue walked slowly, his legs muscles burning after the 4 hour mark, and his side hurt so bad he couldn't really focus on anything else.

— Blue... — Yellow whimpered behind him, before falling to his knees on the hot sand.

Blue moved as fast as he could to his friend, noticing how tightly Yellow seemed to grasp at his own chest.

His intuition moved him to lift his friend's shirt just enough to see the rather large withering mark on Yellow's chest.

— Oh fuck.... We're so screwed..— Blue grimaced. — Why the fuck didn't you say anything before?

— What good would that have done? — Yellow whispered, limbs too shaky to stand up. — Would that make it away, by any chance?

Blue tried to help him to his feet, but Yellow couldn't hold himself at all, it would make the walk unbearable.

— Shit... Shit.. — Blue grumbled, before he took his own backpack and dropped it to the floor.  He proceeded to shove his items into Yellow's bag instead, filling it to the brim with all the things he thought important.

He kept tabs on the ingredients he had still, enough for a couple of healing potions he was sure. Blue helped Yellow put the bag on his back, before giving him a piggy back.

— How long..are you going to be able to carry me like this? — Yellow asked, his words quiet and breathless.

— For as long as i need to... — Was Blue's answer, as he slowly started walking again.

Chapter Text

Second Coming had habits.

Habits that he often tried to ignore or gaslight himself into believing they are all healthy.

One of those was an oddly specific taste for light mayo. He hadn't told Green just yet, he didn't need to know they have been eating the stuff for the past year or so.

Another one was his perspective on his own life and his friends.

Nothing matters more than his family. Nothing matters more than keeping them safe.

Nothing matters more, not even him.

The battle was brutal, skulls flying everywhere, the pungent smell of decay surrounding them all in a mist. His sword was held tightly in his hands but he could see cracks on the once shiny exterior. They had no time left.

At one point he saw Red jumping in front of Green, a skull hitting his leg.

Red's screams of pain would haunt his nightmares for ages.

Suddenly the mist seemed to clear just enough for him to make up the silhouettes of his friends, then he looked up.

Why did he look up? ...

Second's breathing hitched at the sight.

The monster looming right above them,  three pairs of lifeless eye sockets aiming at him and his friends, and for a moment, Second felt like he was staring at death itself.

Only, Death seemed pleased with it's torture.

There was just a second to think, and Second couldn't waste it, his eyes closed tightly for just a moment before his arms flew to both sides, one palm aiming at yellow and Blue who were trying and failing to run away from the aim, the other to Green, Purple and Red who we're trying to shield each other from the soon to come blast.

"Take them away." Second thought to himself as two portals were formed, he wasn't sure where he was taking them, but somewhere away from here. Away from this monster.

Then he was alone, staring at the skulls that seemed to glow as their new attack was charged.

Second thought about giving up, thought about closing his eyes and allowing Death to take him in its grasp.

But there was a small, annoying and almost controlling little voice in his head, screaming, demanding, shouting for Second to survive this. Begging him to live just another day, just another week, just another month, maybe a few more years.

It screamed about his friends, about his family, about those who would wait for him beyond his portals.

The skulls stared down at him with a wicked sense of glee, a look of pride, as if pleased with the chaos and the pain and the horror it had created.

And second decided at that moment, as his eyes glowed green, that he was not going to give that motherfucker the satisfaction of killing him tonight.

Green grunted as his body slammed into the cold wet floor, so hard that he felt the air being punched out of his chest.

He had to take a moment for his head to stop spinning, and for the ringing in his ears to subside. Although, the ringing was quickly replaced by sobs and screams.

Green snapped his head at the noise, and not far away was Red, laying on the floor under a few leaves, screaming bloody murder as his leg oozed black ichor through a wound the size of Green's head.

— Fuck... fuck. — Green groaned as he got up, rushing over to Red's side. — You're ok Red, it's ok.. everything will be ok..

His presence seemed to be enough to stop Red's screams, but his sobs only got worse.

— Green..— Purple said quietly from across them. He got up on shaky legs, one hand holding his arms in place. — Green...

— What?? — Green snapped after a moment, he was too busy ripping a piece of his pants fabric to wrap Reds wound to care about whatever Purple had to say at the moment.

— Look..— Purple said as he finally looked past Green.

That was the moment it dawned on Green where they were. The cold air, the wet grassy and muddy soil below their feet and knees. The thousands of trees that seemed to form a maze around them.

— Were in a fucking Jungle. — Green finally hissed.

Red laid his head back down on the soil and resumed his sobbing, now from pain and pure frustration.

— We can't stay here... We gotta move — Green said as he started helping Red to his back.

— Move to where, Green? The fucking jungle hotel? There's nothing around us! — Purple frowned, waving his hands around at the many trees.

— It doesn't matter, we can't stay here. It's a fucking jungle, it's going to get fucking freezing and we will starve to death. We gotta move and we're moving now, any questions??

Purple just sighed, and Green took that as acceptance, so he started marching through the wet patch, stepping through the mud as he carried Red on his back. — Let's go.

Purple could say they have been walking for hours, it sure as Hell felt like it. Although the Sun seemed to still shine from the moment they arrived to the present, so it may have been just a few minutes.

Green didn't falter once, and Purple envies his core strength, because for all he was worth, Purple was ready to give up and drop on the mud right there.

The air was still rather warm, so the awful feeling of soggy clothes were on the forefront of his mind.

— Green... What are we going to do?.. — Purple asked finally, but received just a sigh in response.

That made him frown, he knew that Green was just as stressed as he was, but being moody was not going to help either of them. — Huffing isn't an answer, Green... We need a plan!

— I don't fucking know okey?? For all we know our friends could be dead and we have no way out of this bullshit place!

Purple glared. — Yelling at me is not going to help us!

— Your stupid questions aren't helping either!! — Green snapped back.

— Please don't fight... — Red quietly said, his voice rough and whispery from sobbing and screaming for so long. His head leaning heavily on Green's back as he was carried.

Green took one deep breath, before he continued to walk.

— We need a place to stay the night. — Purple finally said after a few minutes.

— I. Know. Purple. — Green growled.

Chapter Text

There were many things that Second Coming loved.

He loved Red's smile, the way his cheeks would go brighter when he did so.

He loved Green's singing voice, how he would bellow out the saddest parts of a song he was passionate about.

He loved Yellow's rambling thoughts, his never ending stream of knowledge he so eagerly wanted to share with him.

He loved Blue's laugh, his loud snorty ugly laugh, that filled his heart with joy.

Second Coming loved many things, but first and foremost he loved his friends.

And second...

He loved to hear that monster scream in pain.

His sword was already embedded in the Wither's ribcage, the three skulls roaring like a thunder, it's maws glowing with a grey smoke as another attack was launched at him.

— There's more where that came from, you fucking sack of bones... — The orange figure growled, he could feel the green shiny sparks escaping his eyes.

He needed to remember his training, remember how to control it, how to use it to it's advantage.

Running towards that creature would be suicide to anyone but Second. That creature was a monster, a monster stronger and crueller than any stick figure could ever imagine.

That thing was Hell incarnate.

And Second was going to make it fear him.

One leap and he reached for it, yanking his sword and a rib out of the creature before gravity pulled him back to the floor once more.

His mind didn't even acknowledge the scrapes he had received in his fall, too busy dodging the Wither's corrosive bullets to feel his blood going down his legs.

At some point, such a stupid creature it was. The wither seemed to lower itself closer to the ground, closer to his reach.

Maybe it was also getting tired, Second thought to himself. Maybe it was growing exhausted from its own cruelty.

But Second wasn't going to give it a rest. This was his chance.

Second's legs ran faster than he ever thought he could, jumping from a small ledge created by the destructive creature.

He landed on the middle skull, the biggest, the strongest, and the one he wanted dead first.

It was hard to balance himself, the wither squirmed and spun around in the sky trying to get the figure off of itself.

Second lifted his sword and with a loud yell, he stabbed the creatures skull, all the way to the hilt.

The monster roared in pain, and that was Second's cue. His eyes grew green again, and he channeled all of down his blade.

The creature fell from the sky, taking the figure with it.

After the dust settled, Second, still panting from exertion lowered his gaze to the befell creature.

Yeah, Second loved many things in his life.

Like the sound of a crushed skull under his boots.




Blue's heart was beating so loud in his ears, he couldn't hear his own thoughts. Not that he had many left in him.

How long has he been walking? A few hours maybe, perhaps a whole day. He wasn't sure any more.

And how long since Yellow stopped responding to him? Maybe even longer than that.

The hot, cruel, unbearable Sun was making his skin feel like beef jerky, like he was very slowly cooking alive.

— Just... just keep walking...— Blue told himself, ignoring the aching in his tired legs, or the sweat going down his face.

─ We need to find a place to stay the night, right Yew? Yeah that's right... ─ His stomach gurgled and cramped from emptiness, but everything hurt anyways so Blue didn't care.

— there has to be...a..— He looked up and there it was. —..a cave!

He was surprised with how fast he moved, despite the cramps and the pain that was slowly overtaking him.

The cave wasn't very big, there weren't any resources that they could exploit inside, but it was a cold shade, a blessing from the brutal heat. 

He slowly lowered Yellow down on the floor, using his own jacket that had been wrapped around his waist as a makeshift pillow for him. Then he dropped his own bed on a corner and slumped down with a tired groan.

And for a few minutes, he stared at the walls in silence, catching his breath and trying to put his brain back into functioning. Waiting for the horrible throbbing on his legs to settle down just a moment. — Holy shit... — He mumbled.

But even rest was scarce in this hell, he heard something moving right outside and he immediately went back to high alert, shakily getting back up.

Blue reached for Yellow's bag and quickly grabbed his sword. "Please don't be a husk... Please don't be a husk..." He pleaded to himself in his mind as he slowly made his way back out the cave.

He peaked outside and looked left and right, and luckily it was no Husk.

But a couple of sand colored bunnies, hopping around aimlessly.

He hoped Red would never know what he did next.


When night fell, the cold of the cave spread to the rest of the desert, and Blue was already thanking the cooking fire he has prepared. The bunnies smelled delicious on the roast.

After a few minutes, he decided to stop torturing himself and stop staring at the meat in the fire with a watering mouth, and focused on checking Yellow's bag instead.

He found the radio recorder that his friend was working on. Dented and worn but still relatively functional.

Without much of a thought, Blue pressed a black button on the side of the device, a small beeping sound letting him know that the device was on.

Blue cleaned his throat before speaking quietly. ─ Is anyone there? — But there was no response.

— I suppose everyone is in a bit of a pickle in the moment huh?... — Blue whispered as he leaned back against the wall. — If any of you guys can hear me, I'm still alive.

He chuckled sadly, looking at his unconscious friend for a moment before continuing. ─ Yellow is... not doing very good... He got hit pretty hard by the Wither... And we have been walking in the brutal heat all day long...  Although, he managed to make the radio work somewhat...

Blue then looked down at the radio, still recording his voice. — I miss you guys... Hope everyone is alright..

One of his hands slowly touched his belt, detaching one of the empty bottles and bringing it up to his eyes, the glass was scratched slightly by the sand that has been blasting him all morning. He swirled the last droplet of purpleish iridescent liquid that still lasted inside.

─ I used most of my supplies to make as many healing potions as I could... Yellow's wounds are pretty deep but it seemed to help a little... It's not enough though... I'm not a doctor and I don't have enough ingredients for more potions when these ones run out... I'm trying to save them for when we really need it...

A sharp pain on his side made Blue hiss and flinch, the radio falling on his lap as he quickly grabbed his side.

He lifted his shirt after a moment to check on it. He also had a deep cut. It went from his midsection down to his hip, still sticky from sweat, blood and magma cream that he has spread over the cut. It did numb the pain somewhat, but like everything else, it wasn't enough.

The edges of the cut were a dark grey and not even the cream could stop the sharp stabbing he felt every few minutes.

─ Red will probably... Be very mad at me for not taking better care of my own wounds... But I'm sure i did a good job on Yellow's.

For a second, Blue didn't know what else to add, truth be told he was having a hard time staying awake any longer.

He pressed the radio to his chest, and leaned back again, his eyes slowly falling shut.