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His gaze was fixed firmly upon his own hand as he sat on the sandy ground. The sun had already gone down, but the area near their house was still illuminated by torches, so it wasn't completely dark. It wasn't safe either, the fringes of darkness close enough to be a threat. There could be any manner of monsters or men lurking. Grian wasn't particularly worried, he could take on any threats. Besides, Scar might be the biggest threat and he was on Grian's side.
The thing bothering Grian right now was the lines on his hands. He usually didn't pay much attention to things like that, but one of the lines on his palm, the one he was pretty sure was his life line, was really short. It hasn't always been like that, he usually had a very long line there. Why had it changed? Did that mean something? He never noticed it changing in any other worlds he had played in before, but he usually didn't play in Hardcore mode.
So maybe something about his fate had changed? Did a short life line mean he was going to die soon? He rather not die before Scar! He had a duty to protect him-
A sudden noise took Grian out of his thoughts. He stood, quietly pulling out his sword, ready to pounce at whatever threat was waiting for him. That's when he saw Scar himself emerging from the shadows.
“For goodness sake Scar! I nearly stabbed you!” Grian put his sword away with a sharp clink of metal.
“Oh no!” Scar groaned as he took an over exaggerated step back. “Don't stab me!”
“Yeah. I'm not about to kill you when you just turned red.” Grian looked Scar up and down. “And why exactly are you not wearing any armor?”
“It's hot!” Scar held up his arm, flexing his muscles. “Besides then I can't show off my muscles!”
“Is that what you're worried about?” Grian sighed, long and hard. What was he going to do with Scar? Wait, since he was here, Grian could check Scar's hand and see what his life line looked like. Maybe everyone had really short life lines in this world. “Hey, let me see your hand.”
“Hand? Don't you mean my wonderful pecs?” Scar laughed as he also flexed his chest muscles. Grian wasn't sure if he was impressed or not. Honestly, he had bigger concerns.
Grian reached out and grabbed Scar's hand. It was bigger than his, a little calloused and dry. Nothing Grian didn't expect. He couldn't see well in the darkness, so he pulled Scar's hand close to his face, trying to see his palm.
Ah, there was Scar's life line. It was long, the line went from just above his thumb and all the way down to his wrist. Couldn't get much longer than that. Grian smiled as he traced the line, that must mean that Scar was going to live a very long life!
Grian looked up at Scar, happy to tell him the good news, but Scar's face made him stop. Scar looked flustered, his face was red. “Something wrong, Scar?”
“Oh um!” Scar's eyes darted to the side. “I didn't realize we were holding hands! I didn't prepare my heart!”
“For goodness sake!” Grian shook his head while laughing. “I was seeing how long your life line on your palm was. I was concerned, well, it doesn't matter. Your line is really long, so I don't think you have any reason to worry. You'll live a long time.”
“Yeah, of course!” Scar took his hand back, rubbing it gently with his other hand. “We are going to win together!”
“Right. We will.” Grian hardly wanted to bring up his own line. Didn't seem important. Besides, Scar was already red, he wouldn't be making it to the end. Grian just hoped that he died first. A part of him couldn't bear to see Scar die, “Let's go to bed now.”
It wasn't until much later, when Grian stood on a cliff's edge with Scar's lifeless body behind him that he realized that a life line had nothing to do with how long someone would live. Whatever it meant, he no longer cared, he wouldn't be alive to figure it out, anyway.