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Joel was running.
He was running and he didn't know when to stop, didn't know if he could stop, his mind screaming at him to go, keep going.
His health ticked down with each fallen log he cleared, each rock he jumped from, breathing labored as he frantically tried to fish out his last ender pearl as a last resort.
It landed, and he collided with the rough stone, hands and knees scraped from the impact but health bar finally satiated.
Etho looked at him from the top of the pillager outpost, breathing just as hard with a relieved look in his eyes. He let down a water bucket and Joel happily swam up, the cold water a welcome relief from the burning sensation he'd felt all over moments ago.
He reached the top and sat down at the ledge, taking deep breaths. “Do not,” he glared at his soulmate. “do that again.”
“Noted.” Etho nodded, sitting at his side with a slow exhale. “You made it pretty far, though.”
“Etho.” He warned.
“Right, got it, no more.” Etho snickered.
Testing the new game mechanics had sounded like a fun idea, but now they realised Grian hadn't been exaggerating in his explanation. If they moved too far from each other's side, they could die.
A chill ran down Joel's spine, though he couldn't tell if it was from himself or from the shivering man beside him.
“You freeze too easy for someone from Canada.” Joel teased, leaning into him to share his body heat.
Etho chuckled. “It's not that cold where I'm from.” He shrugged.
Joel perked his head back up. “Etho lore?” He grinned.
“Don't tell anybody.” Etho stage whispered.
“You're probably lying anyway.” Joel shrugged.
“You know me so well.”
“Perks of being your soulmate, probably.”
“Yeah?”
“Maybe.”