Work Text:
“Let’s go over the plan one more time, yes?”
“You guys get Scar, we get Cub.”
“Loser cleans Wels’ wings.”
“Wha—hey! When was this agreed on?”
“Yesterday.”
“No offence my dude, but cleaning your wings are way worse than those two.”
“And not for the same reasons.”
“How bout I give you a real reason to hate cleaning my wings.”
“Alright cut yer yapping you three, we got a job to do.”
“Alright, alright.”
“And for the record, we’re gonna win this cause at least you have each other. I’ll have to clean his wings alone if we don’t.”
“…Ignoring your problems with my wings… let’s do this.”
“May the best team win.”
“Scar, get back here!”
“Never!”
“Get ‘im from the top, I’ll take bottom!”
Pearl definitely didn’t expect to be woken up by three shouting Hermits chasing each other in the sky today, but here we are.
And there was Cub watching the scene nearby in no rush to help his fellow vex, so she figured asking him was probably the best option, “What’s going on here?”
“Wing cleaning day.” He answers in greeting as she stands beside him, “A long delicate process that requires sitting still.”
Something that Scar is decidedly not. Pearl nods in sympathy.
Before them, Wels lands after another failed attempt at knocking him out of the sky and growls.
“Come on Scar, you knew this was coming!”
“You’ll never get me alive!”
“Good!” Stress screeches from somewhere above the clouds, “I’ll have Wels catch you when you respawn then!”
The knight takes off again leaving the two alone.
“I assume this happens often?”
“Eh,” The vex hybrid waggled a hand, “Every month or so. We tend to delay it to the last minute.”
Ain’t that familiar sounding.
At least Jimmy was easier to convince than Grian when the inevitable cleaning started.
Speaking of…
“Shouldn’t you be helping them and not—” She eyed Cub and finally took notice of where he was essentially behind a bush, “—hiding away?”
An omph was heard as he opened his mouth to reply, and the two turned to see Stress grumble in anger as the scarred vex managed to get away. Wels lands next to her, holding out a hand to help her up.
“I hope the other two are having a better time with Cub.”
That raised questions and Pearl turned to said topic only to see his wings spread out and ready for flight in all their filthy glory.
Watching Scar while hiding in a corner suddenly made sense.
“Your wings need cleaning too,” She duly noted.
“And they’ll never catch me.” He smirked, sending her a quick two finger salute, “See ya, Pearl.”
And off he flew, so fast she stumbled a bit, followed by a shouting Stress as he made himself known and a quick message from Wels to Ren and Iskall—apparently Cub’s hunters—of his whereabouts.
And maybe Pearl should help them out. Maybe she should have grabbed the vex before he could flee.
But she’s already had to deal with Grian and his lack of preening—even more so now that they’re on the same server again, so she’ll let them be.
They'll catch them eventually.
Cub’s canyon was a terror to fly through. Which was probably why said owner had led them there.
It was the dumbest mistake Ren had ever made to chase him willy nilly, even Iskall had said so, but the vex provoked him and the wolf in him said chase. So chase he did. Embarrassingly enough.
But they’re here now, the least they could do is hopefully catch him while they’re at it.
“We know you’re here Cub,” Iskall urges from beside Ren, “You can make this easy or harder for yourself.”
Ren takes a sniff of air and catches whiff of Cub’s trail. Unnoticed by him, his tail starts wagging against his will.
The chase is on again!
A hand grabs his and he realises he’s about to rush off.
“Dude, come on,” His friend deadpans.
He smiles sheepishly, “Right, sorry.”
The wolf hybrid leads them both towards the smell, Iskall holding his hand tight like a mom would her child.
Keeping with that analogy, he pulls the cyborg like a child who wants ice cream when the smell gets stronger.
Then the smell moves and Cub shoots out from between the stalagmites.
Did he just—he did! That cheeky vex just stuck his tongue at him!
And Iskall grabbed his hand again.
He needs an all-fours run after this.
Instead, they take off to chase their target, manoeuvring through the rocky pillars Cub clearly knows so well compared to them.
Both knew for a fact he wanted to get them off his tail so a new hiding spot could be located. So they have to catch him before that.
Left, Right, Right, Left again, Right, Up, Up, Down—
Wrong way!
“Look out!”
iskall85 experienced kinetic energy
Renthedog was impaled on a stalagmite
Ren respawned in the Octagon and groaned.
He hated that canyon.
Wels lands on one of Stress’ towers for a break, having lost sight of Scar yet again.
The knight scowls, “This is getting ridiculous.”
He likes games as much as the next Hermit, but this was one Scar refuses to lose and it’s driving him insane.
His wings twitch in annoyance and he winces at the dirt collecting in his joints, stretching them as close to his hands as possible to brush it off.
His own cleaning wasn’t due till another two weeks, but it'd probably have to be moved to an earlier date. Maybe right after they clean Scar’s.
Unlike them, he wants his wings cleaned, and soon.
Stress lands next to him with a tired breath, “Nothing. Lost ‘im again.”
Wels passes her a bottle of water which she drinks gratefully, exhaustion fading if only for a little bit.
“Chasing him won’t do us any good,” He sighs in realisation, “We need him to come to us… somehow.”
They could lure him with something… something that Scar’d have no choice but to show up because of it, but what?
“I… might have an idea.”
His friend’s hesitation had him wary. Hesitation was never a good sign.
Neither was her troubled look as she fiddled with the bottle in her hand.
“I’m not going to like it, am I?”
While Scar likes to play tag in the sky, Cub plays hide-and-seek; hiding in places you least expect and leaves to hide elsewhere just before you find him.
In other words, Iskall was against the best hider on the server.
It was why he and Ren were the ideal team to find him; with heat sensors from his mechanical eye and Ren’s naturally gifted wolf nose.
In theory anyway.
Because when the playing field is pretty much the whole server, it kinda makes their abilities useless.
But there he was! Despite all that he said, Cub was there! Turned away from them… standing stock still… out in the open…
This was a trap isn’t it?
His wings suddenly snap open and they both recoil.
Oh shoot it is a trap!
But then he flies over them and pays them no mind and the two end up blinking in confusion.
Was it time for another vex prank? His eyes were glowing. Usually a clear sign of the vex in him wanting a little chaos and taking over.
It wasn’t the strangest time for it to happen either, just meant that wing cleaning will have to be put on hold.
Never disturb a pranking vex they’ve all come to learn. Some harder than others.
He whipped out his communicator to update the other two on the situation when he saw the messages that had appeared while they were busy trying to catch Cub.
<GoodTimeWithScar> where is she.
<Welsknight> come over to stress’s base
Dread suddenly pooled in Iskall’s stomach. This wasn’t a pranking instinct was it?
“Uh… Ren?”
“Yeah, I see that,” He sounded just as worried as he felt.
What were those two planning?
This was dirty and Stress knew it.
The fact that Wels was reluctant the moment she gave the idea was proof enough.
The fact that he agreed to it was even more proof that they were running out of ideas.
Fortunately Jellie was content enough to be carried around and be placed in the middle of what was definitely a trap; almost like she knew what was going on and was ready to help her owner even if it meant being live bait.
As she’s calmly cleaning herself while on a one block platform surrounded by lava, that was saying something.
She’s perfectly safe, don't worry about that. Cobwebs surrounding the pit should she fall and buckets of water were ready to be dispensed at a moment's notice.
It doesn’t stop Stress’ heart from beating faster when Scar lands in front of them like a man on a mission.
And he does, she supposed. But she and Wels had one too.
Stress nods towards her partner-in-crime hovering behind her and he holds out a hand behind Jellie, freezing Scar in his tracks.
His eyes narrow, “You wouldn’t.”
“Drastic times call for drastic measures.” She could hear Wels' voice shaking despite his attempted callousness, “Now surrender, or she gets it.” He wouldn’t. No one would do anything to actually harm Jellie.
But they needed to bluff hard enough in hopes that Scar would take the bait.
Scar takes a breath and the panic in his posture settles, “If I give in, can I at least hold Jellie through the cleaning?”
Stress relaxes, “Of course.” That went better than expected.
She was ready for what would come next if all else failed: Scar would jump to his cat, she’d be there to intersect and hold him down while Wels tried to clean his wings as quickly and delicately as possible and was absolutely glad it didn't come down to it.
What she wasn't ready for was Cub to have come instead.
One second negotiations were made; the next, Jellie’s gone, buried in Cub’s arms as he flew away into the distance.
A lot of things happen after that.
Scar taking off in a hurry sounding worried and confused as all of them were, “Cub wait!”
Ren and Iskall quickly flying past in the direction both vexes went, “What did you guys do?!”
Wels and herself exchanging confused glances till the knight decides to break the silence, “After them!”
And in the sky, it was a fast paced chase as Scar tries to reach Cub while Cub flies to who knows where and the rest of them try to reach either one of them—
Someone grabs Stress’ elytra and she grabs said hand with a yelp and throws—
Iskall flies through the air with extra momentum and body slams—
Cub squeaks in shock, Scar stops mid flight in surprise—
Two bodies slam into Scar—
Three bodies slam into Cub and Iskall—
Stress with her momentum from throwing a human body in the sky barrels into all of them and—
Down, down, down they went.
Crashing into trees and landing on solid ground.
She’s going to feel that one tomorrow.
“I think I hurt my everything…” Iskall groans nearby.
“Are you guys okay?” Gem’s voice called out through the pain. They must have fallen into her place.
A meow answers her and everyone freezes.
Jellie comes out of the crash site, walking as if she was taking a morning stroll and makes her way to nuzzle Gem’s leg.
Everyone looks back to where she walked out from where both vexes were oh so conveniently piled on top of one another.
Then just as fast everyone moves.
“Pin them down!”
Poor Gem never got her answer as all four of them scrambled to follow up with Ren’s panicked order to do just that before any escape attempt was made.
The plan didn’t go as expected, but at least the goal was reached.
“Freedom!”
Pristine wings flap in celebration, yet Scar made no move to leave the group who had collectively decided to rest by the dock in Gem’s market.
Gem didn’t have the heart to kick them out anyway, opting to let them be while she busies herself with building nearby. They all looked so content. Complete opposite to when they all came crashing down in the first place.
Well, most of them.
A hiss has Iskall recoiling from an attempt at petting Jellie, chuckling good naturally at his friend’s show of sharp teeth, as he hides the cat deeper into his arms, “Jeez Cub, you’re more protective than Scar. Jellie’s alright.” As if to prove his point, said cat leaps out of her safe space and to his lap, letting the cyborg do his intended action, “See?”
“Sorry, that’s mostly my fault.” Scar proceeds to lean against the scientist, mumbling something Gem can’t catch. Whatever it was, Cub relaxed slightly and the glowing blue in his eyes dim, “He must have sensed my distress and came running.”
Stress smiled apologetically, “Sorry love, but it had to be done.”
Another mumble had the whole group laughing and Stress proceeds to pet Scar’s head. Ren pushes closer to her, wanting head pats as well.
Through the pats, he hums in thought, “So… who won?”
While Cub was currently unresponsive, content to nestle against Scar, Scar’s head swung around the group as they all wondered the same thing.
“Let’s consider this a tie,” Wels flared out his wings in smug anticipation; Iskall, being closest to him, ducks to avoid getting slapped, “So all of you can wash my wings.”
The rest of them groan at the sight of the soot and grime on his dragon wings accumulated during that whole chase and Wels laughs, eerily similar to that Helsknight guy Gem’s heard about in passing.
“Well, have fun with that.”
“Oh no you don’t, Scar,” Ren stops whatever idea he had had immediately, “You and Cub brought us this mess, and we’re dragging you in it whether you like it or not.”
Iskall nods in agreement, “And I’ve got enough brushes for all of us .”
There was something sounding akin to a cat’s whine—that was definitely not Jellie’s as she was purring under Iskall’s hand. Stress nods her head as if she understood whatever sound that was, “Yes, we’ll do it after Cub is not so tunnel visioned and out of it.”
“That was not at all what he said.”
“And you would know, Scar?”
“Better than what you would, Ren.”
The light-hearted banter continued with a few close calls of a vex instinct relapse if it weren’t for Jellie returning to Cub’s lap and some soothing by Scar.
At one point Gem left for her main base and by the time she returned, Stress and Scar were chatting softly, sandwiched between a sleeping Ren and Cub. Iskall meanwhile had started cleaning Wels’ wings, his face clearly showing how he felt about it.
“It’s like washing a stain that refuses to come off!”
“You don’t have to do it now.”
“I got bored.”
“Then be bored with something else.”
“Well I was going to, but now I won't.”
She could’ve let them be again, but she had gone back to her base with a mission and one she intended to complete.
Wels’ wing cleaning can wait, and she can’t wait for the inevitable chaos that’d come with that.
But for now, “I’ve got cookies!”
Some treats for her visitors cause they definitely deserved it after the day they’ve had.