Chapter Text
For the first few moments of being away, Kaboodle simply laid there - the bed underneath her felt odd, but maybe it was just her imagination.
..was her room colder than usual? Oh, well.
The first thing that alerted her that something was wrong was the distant jingling of bells. Her eyes opened slowly; bells? Why would there be bells in her base? There just isn't - and what would make them chime?
She sits up slowly, pushing off the blanket on top of her. Surprisingly thin, and-- red? She didn't have red *anything* that wasn't gifted to her by Clown, and she got cold easily, and--
Her eyes widen as she remembers. Bak. The school, and Bo, and Boo-- Art and Rekrap.
"REK?!" She shouts, "REK, IS-- where..hold on, where.." She trails off as she looks around again.
Chests neatly arranged on the wall, though there's a handful of items stacked haphazardly on a few makeshift tables.
It's undecorated.
This is not her base.
The jingling of bells returns, and a masked jester peeks out from behind a wall. That's what made the sound - the bells attached to his hat, probably. Good to know.
"Kab?" A wave of relief crashes over her - it's just Clown. And by the look of the area, and herself, it's Lifesteal. "Oh, you're awake-- you spawned here a few hours ago. I don't know why, or how you found my base and didn't tell me, but--"
She shakes her head almost as soon as he starts talking. Her mind is racing - she can't properly think about much else, no, no--
"No, I-- I wasn't here, I don't know how I'm here, I was in the school with Boo and Bo and-- and it, and.."
While Clown's gaze was as neutral as ever, she'd known him long enough to feel the judgement coming from him - she huffs, though she quiets. Maybe..
"..sounds like you had a nightmare."
He voices her thoughts, though the thought is shaken almost as soon as he says it. Kaboodle stands on shaky legs, taking a golden carrot from her inventory.
And she shakes her head. "No, Clown, I didn't, this was real! Oh-- OH!" Rek disappeared. In that world, Rek had disappeared - she can feel Clown's judgemental gaze only getting worse. "Oh, oh no, have-- have you seen Rek recently? He disappeared, he was wiped from the game, I--" It's his turn to cut her off, a frown in his voice.
"Hey, hey-- Kab. Calm down. Check the playerlist."
She does as told, checking her communicator - the name Rekrap2 catches her eye, and she lets out a small sigh of relief.
It's put away moments later, before she taps her foot against the ground impatiently. "..oh..okay, okay-- cool. He's there." Kaboodle begins to pace the small room, from the bed to the tables, as Clown simply watches.
"..which means he's here. I-- I wonder if he remembers anything, he's usually around spawn, I--" She huffs. Why does this have to be so difficult?
And the jester shakes his head. "Take a few minutes to breathe. ..you just woke up after not being on the server for a few days, which--"
She freezes, eyes immediately meeting the slits of the other's mask where she knows he's looking at her.
"DAYS?!"
He ignores the interruption. Probably for the best, really, as he continues, looking away.
"--is unusual for you."
As he finishes, Kaboodle stands there with her eyes wide for a few moments."YOU'RE DAMN FUCKING RIGHT IT IS. WHAT DO YOU MEAN, DAYS?!" She shouts, stepping closer towards the man, who simply tilts his head and watches her reaction.
"Three, specifically." He murmurs, seemingly unamused, and he turns to busy himself with something within the chests - probably something he doesn't want her seeing. It doesn't concern her, so she doesn't mind too much.
"..that's..
..huh. The amount of resets there were.." She grumbles, halfway to herself. She ignores the inquisitive hum from Clown, instead glancing around for a few moments.
Her pacing continues. "I'll-- I'll tell you all about it later." She nods - yeah, Clown should know, but there's more pressing matters at hand.
"Right now, I need to find Rek. And I need to talk to him and ask if he remembers-- if he remembers..the school, I don't think he ever saw them..OH MY GOD ART." She gasps, ignoring the flinch from Clown; it's nice how much he lets down his guard around her, but in any other situation she'd laugh at him for it.
For now, the thoughts of her friend's dead body fill her mind, and Bak becoming Artemis for a while. "IS SHE OKAY?! Clown when's the last time you saw Artemis?!" She whirls around to look at him.
..and ClownPierce looks fairly neutral about it, like most things. "..we were just talking a few minutes ago about-- well, about you being asleep. You were in what I thought was a coma, so we were all worried.." He trails off.
As much as they pretend to hate each other on Lifesteal, she knows that's what he meant - no matter what, when people need her, usually she's around.
Her being gone was probably very odd. "I-- okay, I'll-- I'll talk to her in a minute, I-- I have to go to spawn."
And Kaboodle grabs her armor - conveniently placed on the edge of the bed, thanks to Clown - and shrugs it on, humming as she finds her elytra in her hotbar. Good. She has all of her tools, too; perfect. She needs everything she can, just in case something happens.
And then she hesitates.
"..which..way is it from here?" The question is almost sheepish, and Clown pauses in his rummaging to look at her for a few moments; the silent 'judgement' is obvious, and she knows what he's trying to say without him even hinting at it. For someone who shows very little emotion, he sure tells a lot through his lack of action as well, Kaboodle thinks - though, only for a quick moment.
"Northeast."
He sounds amused, and no doubt, he is.
"Thanks Clown!" She waves as she heads towards what she thinks is the exit - and it is, a bubble column, going one way. Up. There's probably a block at the top, and ah, that'll be annoying - but something understandable, at least, so nobody can find his base. She wonders how she got here in the first place. The thought reminds her-- "I'll-- ah, you'll probably have to move your base, sorry..I..really don't know how I got here." The apology is as genuine as she can make it while trying not to panic - Rek and Art are still on her mind.
Oh, Rek. Last she knew, he was gone. Just disappeared - never to be seen again. And Art, too, was gone. Sure, she'd managed to defeat Bak (by confusing it, but still, she'd gotten away), but Rek hadn't shown up again, even when she'd tried to find him. It seemed like he was just gone, with no way to live properly.
..had he?
And Art, the last she saw, her friend's body was bloody, head replaced with a command block, glitching in and out of existence. It was weird. And that probably meant Art was dead, or maybe hurt, or maybe even just gone for good and oh--
"It's fine." Clown's voice pulls her out of her own head. She's grateful for that - she isn't in the right state of mind for Lifesteal right now, but she doesn't really have a choice. Hearing the voice of someone she trusts certainly does help. "Go talk to Rek before you have a panic attack." He waves her off before burying his head in his chests again. She, distantly, wonders what he's looking for - something that doesn't matter too much in the end, she assumes.
Kaboodle laughs just a little, though it's more hollow than it usually is. "Awe, you know me so well."
As she leaves, ClownPierce grumbles under his breath, "yeah, yeah," though he looks at Kaboodle and smiles.
She smiles just as well - her brother will be there to help if necessary.