Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Scott was a unicorn hybrid.

They were rare, extremely powerful, and very much sought after for their magic, so he spent most of his time disguised as a regular human.

Because, why would he tell people that he was one of the rarest hybrids out there when most servers would snatch him up in a heartbeat to force him to use his magic?

Though, this was another reason.

He had just left the cabin to go looking for wolves, in fact he was pretty sure he still had the bones in his hands, when he had caught his reflection in a pond he was passing.

Now, keeping up a disguise 24/7 was hard work. It was tiring, hiding his horn and tail and ears and changing the color of his hair from its natural teal to a blond that fit his human disguise better. There were days when it made him so tired that he would find a corner of whatever server he was on just to hide in a hole and get a night's rest with out having to constantly use magic. He was pretty sure it wasn't healthy for him to use that much magic constantly but he didn't care. Better to get chronic magic exhaustion than get captured by evil people. (Not that he thought any of his current friends would do that, old habits die hard and he was pretty sure some of them would be mad at him for hiding this for so long.)

Throughout the current Life Series, he hadn't taken a break to rest without a disguise, so it had fallen off. Luckily, he was alone in the woods when it happened.

Or maybe he was unlucky. Because unicorns and unicorn hybrids had a magical charm that was on at all times unless they consciously choose to tone it down. He normally covered his up with his disguise, which was now completely dropped on accident. And a unicorn's charm at full strength can effect the unicorn/hybrid who cast it.

So now he was here, kneeling by a pond and staring at his own reflection because of a stupid bit of magic he wasn't immune to despite it being a natural part of himself.

He couldn't even tone down the charm the normal way because he was too busy being stuck because of it.

He sighed, he'd just have to wait until night came and made too dark to see his reflection and hope that he was recharged enough to put up his disguise and leave.

…

This was boring.

You'd think being forced to watch your own reflection because of a spell would make it more bearable, but no. This was torture of the upmost degree. He didn't even think he looked that good. Seriously, and the fact that he knew of some hybrids who'd willingly do this is insane.

He didn't know how long he's been here, he left at like… 10 in the morning? Goodness he couldn't remember, stupid charm.

Maybe if an animal jumped into the pond and disrupted the water he'd be able to draw back and turn around in time.

He was starting to feel sore from staying in the same position for so long.

Stupid, stupid magic.

Why even have a magical power if you aren't immune to it? What were his ancestors thinking?

He just couldn't of hold out with his magic until he was by the border, could he? He just had to drop the disguise while he was at risk of seeing himself! Oh, when he gets out of this, he'll find a way to counteract his charm, he swears.

His knees hurt so much, and he was definitely pushing onto his hands to much.

"Scott?" Someone called from across the pond.

"Uh, hi! Can I get some help here?" He replied.

The sound of footsteps grew closer, "I, uh goodness you're a-" now that the voice was closer, he could tell that it belonged to Scar.

"I know, just. Can you disrupt the water here?"

A hand reached down into the water shaking away his reflection as splashes rippled across the surface.

Scott bolted up and whipped around to make sure that he was no longer facing the pond.

"Oh, goodness! Can you be more careful? You almost stabbed me with your horn!"

"Oops! Sorry. I just didn't want to get trapped again. Welp! It's been nice seeing ya! I need to uh…"

"Hold on now!" Scar butted in before Scott could come up with an excuse, "I want some explanation! You're a hybrid!"

Goodness, Scott was in a pickle. If he told Scar, if Scar told the others… what if they were mad at him for lying all these years? Like, every other hybrid was open about it, they'd all known Tango was a blaze since they'd met him, Cleo was clearly a zombie, Grian and Jimmy had told them all upon meeting them that they were avians, Gem was very open about being a faunis, Skizz was an angel and everyone knew it, heck, even Impulse didn't hide his hybrid attributes and he was a demon for crying out loud!

If this got out, people might be mad at him for lying, hurt that he didn't trust them enough to tell them, this was a very large breech of their trust too!

Goodness, he was trapped!

Wait, he'd seen other hybrids use their charm to get out of situations before. He was basically radiating enough of it to convince a wither to go to bed and stop attacking mobs. He could use it to get out of this!

How did the others do it?

"Um… you're going let go of this, leave, forget this ever happened and not tell anyone what you saw!" He snapped his fingers.

Scar just blinked at him, "no, I'm not. I want know what's going on, I didn't think anyone else was hiding themself!"

"Dammit, I've never been good at that," he muttered, "Wait, 'anyone else'? You're a hybrid too?"

Scar smiled, "indeed! Though I never saw the need to hide it, it's Cub who told me to keep quiet and I normally do what he tells me. But now, I guess the cat's out the bag, or should I say, the vex is out of the pajama man!"

It was Scott's turn to blink, "the what?"

"You know, pajama man! The magic guy with the finger waggle that summons vexes and and the floor alligators?"

Scott burst out laughing, "do you mean an evoker, Scar?"

"Yeah, the ee-voter or whatever."

Scott laughed harder, "Oh, Scar. Never change."

He wiped his eyes which had become decidedly moist, "so, you're a vex hybrid?"

"Yep! Me and Cub used to get into all sorts of shenanigans in the server hub! Scammed a lot of people we did, then someone decided to get a little vengeful so we joined Hermitcraft and hid our species. But that was years ago! I don't know why Cub is still so sure on keeping it a secret."

"And here I thought I was bad at charming. That explains it!"

"Charming…? You tried to use charming magic on me?"

"Well, what was I supposed to do? I didn't want you to know I was a unicorn hybrid and I didn't know you were a vex hybrid! And charming magic is kind of our thing."

"So you're a unicorn hybrid?"

"I thought that was obvious, I mean, I have a horn and tail for void's sake!"

"I'm sorry, I'm not a hybrid expert! I don't know these things!"

"I have a horn! That's like meating Cleo for the first time and not realizing that she's a zombie when her skin is green!"

"I… may or may have needed to be told that Cleo was a zombie by Cub before I realized it. But that's not the point! What just happened, why did I need to disturb the water, where have you been and how have been hiding this? I mean, it's not like you hybrid features are intangible like a vex is."

"Unicorn magic. I used it to disguise myself but it's pretty exhausting to do so. I normally need to take a break from using it every few months or else the disguise will just fall away. I had a break before joining Past Life and didn't realize that I needed a recharge so soon so the disguise just kinda failed. I kinda… ended up trapped by my own charm and forced to watch my reflection since I first arrived here."

"I'm sorry, you got trapped by your own charming magic?"

"Look, not all hybrids have the luxury of charm immunity like vexes do."

Scar started laughing, "but you said that charming was a unicorn's thing! How can you not be immune to your own magic!"

"I really wish I knew, Scar, I really wish I knew."

It took a few moments for him to calm down.

"So, I'm assuming that you want want me to keep this quiet?"

"Yes please!"

"Then I'll keep it quiet. It's up to you to tell others, not me. Same thing goes for my little secret," he winked, "you should come back, Etho cooked lunch for the crew."

Scott nodded. He didn't rest nearly long enough to be able to hold his disguise for the rest of the season of LIFE, but he could hold until he found a time for proper rest.

"Will do that, but I need to disguise again first so you go ahead."

Chapter Text

Scar was walking through the plains biome that had moved to the back corner.

His horse had died, and if he wanted to stay a part of the horse alliance, he needed a horse.

The problem was, he was having a hard time finding a horse. They seemed to have all fled the plains biome.

In fact, it seemed like all animals had fled the plains biome. He couldn't even see traces of their souls remaining.

He guessed he'd just have to get closer to the border to find any.

It was strangely quiet, with no players over this way. He guessed that made since, this was the farthest place from anyone's base in the server.

That's when he picked it up. The traces of a soul, a sheep, no, a cow, no it is a sheep, no… he wasn't sure. He wasn't the best at identifying souls, when he first met Grian he couldn't identify his species based on his traces of soul, but then again, Grian's soul was just weird for an avian. Well, maybe if he followed it the soul would lead him to where all the animals went.

He trekked through the tall grass, following the wiff of life he had caught.

Eventually, a strange sight came to view.

A whole biome's worth of animals were huddled around Scott, who was out of his disguise. Scar could feel a veil of magic blanket his mind, trying to charm him, though failing miserably.

He had only half noticed it when he caught Scott out of his disguise the first time as he hadn't been paying attention, but now that he was, it was a strong spell. He hadn't seen anything half as strong as it and he used to be part of the barrier block trade in the server hub and restricted trades were known for the abundant use of charming spells.

And wow, unicorn magic was distinct. It's no wonder Scar had failed to identify it when he'd never seen it before.

"Why hello there!" He greeted.

Scott jumped, "Scar! You startled me! Goodness, why are you here?"

"I lost my horse and came to get a new one, but it seems like you're not just the horse master, but the master of the entire animal kingdom!"

Scott gave a weak smile, "yeah, it's kind of a problem. You know how I said that I need to take a break from my disguise or else it'll slip? Yeah, I was coming this way to do just that but slipped a little early. Unicorns are the defenders of nature so our magic draws in animals. Now I can't dig into the ground to hide like I normally would because there's just so many!"

Scar tapped his chin, "Well, that is quite the predicament. Do you think they'd leave if they were scared?"

"Only if they didn't think I could help them."

Scar smiled, "Ok! Vexes have a frightening aura that can scare off mobs, if I get close to you, I can scare them off!"

"That's a big if," he said, looking at all the animals around him.

Scar simply walk through them all.

"How are you doing that?"

"Vex perks! We are partially incorporeal in our natural state, so all I have to do is let a bit of this manifestation fade and I'll be able to faze through most things."

"I didn't know that, but then again I don't think I've ever met a vex before."

Scar was next to Scott now, so now he just stopped holding back on his aura. All the animals suddenly stopped their grazing, grooming, napping and everything else they were doing. Rabbits scampered, sheep brayed before running off, some wolves growled while backing up slowly and the horses galloped away.

Scott shuttered, "that was… much stronger than I was expecting."

"Oops! Didn't mean to scare you."

"No no, it's fine. I'll be able to find a good place to rest now."

Scar nodded, drawing back his aura into himself until not even the most attuned magic user could realize it was there.

Scott sighed, visibly relaxing, "I- uh… thank you. You really helped me there."

"Of course! Anything for a friend."

Scott nodded, pulling out a shovel, "You should go find that horse you need."

Chapter Text

Scott was in a bad situation.

The harvest was a low yield, and there wasn't enough bread for the Cabin Crew to eat.

This wasn't a problem for everyone else because the pigs were flourishing. But unicorn hybrids were herbivorous and couldn't eat meat.

Scott was starving.

"Are you going to eat your pork?" Etho asked.

"No thanks, I'm not that hungry," Scott lied. They had completely run out of bread already.

Scott pushed back his chair from the table and left. There wasn't any point in staying if he couldn't eat.

Outside, the barren crop fields and cold air just made his situation feel even worse.

He was so hungry. So so hungry. He'd probably resort to eating grass if it wasn't all dead, though knowing how annoyingly specific unicorn eating requirements are, he'd probably throw it up because it wasn't properly served up with sugar and gold or something stupid like that.

There was nothing for him to do but sit in the shack with the hot tub in it to be out of the wind and cold (though he didn't feel like actually sitting in the hot tub and didn't bring a towel due to his abrupt exit of the cabin.)

So… hungry.

He hadn't eaten a proper amount in weeks.

The door opened and Scar entered.

"Hello Scott, why are you in here?"

"I'm just trying to get some time to think while not being in the cold."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Wether a pine cone is edible or is too plain for my 'fragile body'. Why are you here?"

"Here to check on you, you've barely touched your food at all in the past few weeks… Is something wrong?"

Scott snorted, "'Is something wrong?' Of course something's wrong! I'm a unicorn hybrid, we can't eat meat! And the Cabin Crew never thought to save up a stock of grain for the winter despite no one ever seeing me even pick at pork because you all are the least observant idiots on the server, I guess! Void, 'Is something wrong?'"

Scar flinched, "I seem to have pushed a few buttons there, I'm sorry."

Just then, a spike of hunger pains shot through Scott. He clutched his stomach, swaying back and forth on the bench he was sitting on, "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell, I'm just… so… hungry."

"Would you feel better if I got you food?"

Scott snorted again, "Good luck with that, unicorns are really picky. Can't eat grain unless it's baked into bread, can't eat fruit or vegetables unless they're gilded with gold, can't eat nuts unless they are in a nut butter solution, can't eat sugar unless it's baked into something else, I don't think you could find honey anywhere as we aren't in the right version, can't eat meat, can't eat eggs, can't eat dairy! Hell, we can't even drink water plain, there needs to be at least 8 grams of sugar dissolved into it or we will belch it up because magical digestive systems are that fragile, I guess! How in the 3 dimensions did we survive till now?"

Scar nodded, "Ok, bread, golden food, nut butter, sweet foods and sugar water. Got it!"

Scar scampered out the room.

Scott just blinked at where he had been standing, processing what just happened too slowly because he was just that hungry.

About half an hour later, Scar returned with a loaf of bread, a golden carrot and cup of water which he handed off to Scott.

"I know you said 8 grams of sugar, but I put 9 in just in case. I hope you're fine with that."

Scott didn't say anything, but attacked the golden carrot. He hadn't tasted gilded food in so long, he had nearly forgotten its taste.

Scar smiled at that, taking the seat right next to him.

When Scott was done with his food and drink, finally full for the first time in weeks, he lazily leaned onto Scar's shoulder, happy and content.

After a few moments, a thought struck Scott.

"Scar, where did you get this food?" He said, sitting up straight.

"Well I used my great and refined charisma to charm the Gluten Guys into giving me some of their grain-"

"You stole from them, didn't you?"

"Yes, yes I did."

"Scar!"

"What? You said you were starving and they have so much of it! They practically live in a greenhouse for voids sake!"

"Yes, but they just lost a member, you gotta have some respect for the dead!"

"I have no respect for them because I died at the funeral."

"To my and Pearl's boogie trap! Their trap didn't even kill anyone except for themselves!"

"Well they still tried to trap the funeral, so why should I have respect for the dead when they clearly have none?"

Scott sighed, "and the golden carrot? Please don't tell me you stole that too."

"No, no. The Lillies caught me in the act of stealing from the Gluten Guys because they wanted to steal from them too. When I told them that our crop yields were extremely low we made a trade. 2 diamonds for 5 golden carrots, so I have some for the next few days. I would've gotten more because the Lillies seem to have stacks upon stacks of golden carrots, but those were my last 2 diamonds."

His last- that was… surprisingly sweet of him.

Scott stared into his brilliant emerald eyes for a moment, "…Thank you," he muttered, quickly looking away.

Chapter Text

"So, they have a layer made completely of doors. I say we make a redstone contraption on that layer so that the doors continuously open and close," Scar was saying, hidden in the woods back behind the Lillies base.

"We can be much more creative than that, how about a pressure plate that drops TNT in a pit of water so that they hear the explosion and think that something blew up when nothing did?" Bdubs suggested.

"What about the old obsidian over the chests trick?" Etho added.

"Eh, lame. You all need to learn a thing or 2 about pranks. First, we steal their sugar cane. Second, we trap their nether portal with lava," Grian said.

"Are we sure this isn't too villainous?" Bdubs muttered.

"Third, arson!" Scar said.

"See, Scar gets it! There is no such thing as too villainous. In fact, as the representative of the Villies-" Scar didn't hear the rest of what Grian was saying. A familiar soul signature was getting closer, with its distinctive magic signature in the open.

Scott was coming, and his disguise certainly slipped. Didn't he say that he could last for months without it slipping?

Well, time to hide his friend's secret.

"I don't mean to interrupt you, but aren't we a little out in the open to be discussing evil plots? I mean, what if the Rejects over hear our plans to prank their base?" He cut in.

Grian tapped his chin, "hmm, you're right. We should go closer to the border. Follow me!"

The group of 4 got up and moved closer to the border, making sure to walk away from the Gluten Guys' pyramid. Scar crossed his fingers that Scott wouldn't come this way.

In a denser clearing, they settled down to start discussing again.

"If we make a secret tunnel from the L to Mount Craftmore, we can blame it on the Lost Generation. Then we trap the tunnel to kill the Rejects!"

"Keep your voice down, Bdubs. do you want to be overheard? The gluten guys could be anywhere in these woods."

Scott was still coming closer. What was he going to do?

"We put on masks to make us look like Impulse, Ren-"

"No! We dress up as Tango, Mumbo and Lizzie."

"And who will the 4th be? Oli?"

"They'll run distraction. I thought we went over this?"

Scott would cross into the clearing in 5 seconds. If Scar timed this right, he could make everyone look away.

"We'll make a server wide conga line that the Rejects will join in on while we set up the prank!"

"But then they'll know that it was whoever wasn't there that pranked them, disguises or not."

"Is that a pink sheep?" Scar blurted out. It was the best thing he could think of.

Everyone looked where he was looking, and Scar heard the hurried footsteps of someone blindly running through the woods behind him.

"Huh, guess not," he said once the footsteps vanished.

"I thought I heard something move that way," Bdubs pointed at the direction Scar knew Scott had just run in.

"Yeah, I thought I saw movement over there out the corner of my eye," Etho agreed.

"I'll investigate it!" Scar jumped up from his seat, "you guys continue plotting! And, uh, update me when I get back, ok?"

Grian looked worried, "are you sure? It's getting dark and these woods are dangerous at night. I could go instead."

"No, no! Uh, you're the only representative of the Lillies in this group and this prank is meant to be a joint effort. I'll go so you stay up to date. Besides, someone needs to wrangle these idiots and Scott definitely isn't around to do that!"

Grian squinted suspiciously, "Ok, but be careful. You dying out here would be a real horn in my side. "

Scar flinched before dashing off into the trees.

Does Grian know?

He can't of possibly known, Scott wouldn't have told him!

But he is the server's admin, maybe he knows everyone's species based on that?

No, that can't be. Grian doesn't know that he is a vex hybrid!

He had long since stopped being able to see or hear the others, but he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.

He came to a clearing where Scott was panting, clearly having run himself ragged.

"Scott…?"

Scott jumped, "Scar! You scared me. What are you doing here?"

"The rest of the Cabin Crew and Grian were planning a prank on the Rejects. You gotta pay more attention to where you run, you nearly got found out by the others. It's lucky that I felt you coming and was able to distract them with a lie about a pink sheep."

"I'm sorry, my disguise slipped while hanging out by the lighthouse and had to slip away into the woods fast before Gem and Pearl saw me. Now I think I'm far enough to put it back on."

"Whoa, whoa whoa, hold on. Don't you have to rest before you reapply your disguise?"

"Yes, but I can't really rest right here, can I? You said it yourself, there are people in these woods. Besides, Gem and Pearl will be suspicious if I don't come back soon."

"Scott, you really shouldn't be pushing yourself, I mean, didn't you say that you could normally hold a disguise for months? And yet, you've slipped twice in a week even with a full rest. You're clearly over doing it."

"It's fine!" He huffed, crossing his arms, "It's not that bad. I just need to hold out till I can finish the chat with Gem and Pearl and go back to my hidey hole in the plains."

"The plains… on the complete other side of the map. You told me this spell was tiring, you really shouldn't…

Wait - wait when you told me that the spell was exhausting, you didn't mean that it was an Exhaustive Level Spell, did you?"

Scott stayed silent, eyes pointed at the ground.

(Watched, watched, watched. They were being watched.)

"Scott. Do not tell me that you've been constantly using an Exhaustive Level Spell that was cast with your own innate magic."

Still nothing but a shuffle of his feet.

(Watched, watched, watched. Something is watching them. Bigger than them. More than player.)

Scar came closer, "do not tell me that you've been using an Exhaustive. Level. Spell. constantly with your own. Innate. Magic. You know, your lifeblood."

Scott shuttered.

(Watched. Watched. Watched. It's coming. Feel the magic? Ancient, old. Strong. Stronger than you or him.)

Scar was now in front of Scott, "Look me in the eyes and tell me-"

Scott looked up at him, "I have. It's the only way I could hide myself as amulets of disguise are too hard to find on most worlds."

"Why? Why would you do that? I may not be a magic expert but I know enough and have been lectured enough times by Cub to know this is a sure fire way to get a terrible case of magic exhaustion."

"You don't know what they do to us on other servers. They snatch us up, steal us away, force us to use our powerful spells and abilities for their own benefit. It was either be drained of my magic by greedy people or drain myself and live free."

"But why continue? The Life Series is a great place, Grian would never do anything like that. I get making sacrifices elsewhere, by why here?"

Scott bit his lip, "because the longer you lie, the harder it gets to admit it. I've been lying for so long, what if they all get mad at me for it, or feel hurt that it didn't trust them? What if-"

Scar grabbed Scott and pulled him into his arms, turning his head a strange direction as to not get nicked by Scott's horn.

"I wasn't mad at you when I learned, they won't be mad at you when they do. Would you be mad if it turned out that, I don't know, Lizzie was secretly an angel or something like that? Trust me, I know this. You can tell them what you are, and they won't be mad. And if they are, you'll have me here by my side. I'll keep you safe."

Scott started crying, "I just… worry. I've always worried. It's helped me survive."

"It's stopped you from living. You shouldn't hide if it hurts."

"Says the secret vex hybrid."

"My disguise isn't created by an Exhaustive Level Spell cast with my own innate magic."

"Touché."

"Two day indeed."

Scott, who had already been crying, cried even harder as he started to laugh, "Oh, Scar, never change."

And the 2 just stayed together as Scott cried in Scar's embrace.

(Watched.)

Eventually, Scott calmed down, pulling back from Scar's arm.

(Watched.)

"Scar, are you sure they'll be fine with it?"

"Of course! They're your friends."

(Watched.)

"Good. Because I think I'm about to pass out."

"What?!"

Scott collapsed onto the ground.

(They were being Watched.)

Chapter Text

Scott woke up a few seconds after he passed out, taking a few seconds to realize that someone was carrying him.

"Scar! Scott! What happened!" A voice rang out from across the clearing.

"Grian! Where did you come from?" Another, closer voice responded.

"Never mind that, put him on the ground. By the ancient Watcher's long dead eyes, this is the worst case of magic exhaustion I've ever seen and I've Watched spell casters push their innate magic beyond their limits in a fruitless attempt at saving their server from destruction! I knew he was hiding himself but I didn't think his method was so stupid!"

"You knew? You knew that he was a unicorn hybrid?"

"Of course I knew, I also know that you're a vex hybrid, Pearl and Mumbo are shapeshifters and Gem is a world hopper! I know everything!"

"How?!"

"I have Eyes in the back of my head. Now quickly give his head support, that rock, over there, prop him up on it!"

Everything was hazy, Scott's body felt so heavy, the world was turning. He felt himself get moved to lean on something.

"Eyesssin da bak of yor het, onlee mozerss haf dose an u arnt uh mozer," Scott mumbled.

Someone sat next to him, "Be quiet, save your strength. I need supplies ASAP! Regen potions, sugar water, enchanted golden apples, anything with positive magical effects."

"What does ASAT mean?"

"Doesn't matter, Scar, just get me supplies now!"

"Oh, I fogot ahbow gumbot," Scott was really out of it.

"I said be quiet! And don't move."

"Ha ha, bee quiak, like uh duk, woodt tat be funee, duk lif. An cow lif, but I wont moo."

"Got it! Is it ok that I stole the sugar from the lighthouse?"

"Yes. It's fine. Give a regen potion to me. Now."

Scott felt his head tip back as something cold and soothing slid down his throat. Immediately, the world seemed to clear a bit, and some strength returned to him.

"Good. Scott, can you see me clearly?"

Scott blinked, the figure of man in a red jumper with wings focused for a few seconds before it all became blurry again.

"Kindoh,"

"More regen pot."

The red blur grabbed an even brighter red splotch and put it up to Scott's face. On instinct, Scott opened his mouth and leaned his head back as the cool liquid flowed down his throat. The world balanced out even more so, now Grian was clear in his vision, even if everything beyond him, including a second figure, was still blurry and his body was still so heavy. His brain fog cleared more too.

"How about now?"

"Yess. I c u."

"Ok, give him some time to stabilize. Meanwhile, cut up the enchanted golden apple into bite sized pieces to feed to him in about a minute. Keep him hydrated while I set up a room in the lighthouse for him. It's the closest base to here."

"You really know what you're doing, huh."

"My old, er, job taught me advanced first aid during training. I know what I'm doing."

And with that, the figure of Grian dashed off.

The other figure stumbled closer, revealing itself to be Scar. He held up a bottle of clear liquid.

"You should drink."

He did, but this time the liquid was sweet.

After a little bit in which he heard a cutting sound and heavy breathing, Scar held up a glowing chunk of something gold.

"Please eat this," his voice hitched.

He did and has whole body seemed to feel lighter and the world slowed its spinning greatly. With each bite he ate, the fog in his mind lifted, and Scar's face lit up just a little more, even if his cheeks were wet.

"Scar," he muttered.

Scar looked at him with his beautiful face that made Scott feel hot under his gaze, or maybe he was just still out of it, "yes?"

"That's an enchanted golden apple."

He raised an eyebrow, "so?"

"Those are rare… and expensive."

He gave a short, gorgeous laugh, "Oh Scott, your life is worth more than some apple."

He said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But-"

"You shouldn't talk too much. You need to rest," Scar said as he put the last piece in Scott's mouth.

He swallowed, "You really didn't-"

"I did! I love you too much to let you die on me now!"

"Uh- I- I…

…I love you too."

Footsteps approached, "We can move him now. I've set up the guest room and Pearl is gathering supplies."

Chapter Text

"Can you move that thing out of my face?" Scar was saying, "I think I might sneeze if it keeps coming close to my nose."

"If you don't want my tail in your face than come sit up here instead of on the floor," Scott retorted.

He was sitting on a bed in the Villies lighthouse, having taken 2 weeks already for his recovery. During this time, their little play death game had been put on pause due to the threat of a player actually dying.

Everyone had come to visit Scott at least once. Even Tango was let out of spectator mode to wish him well. The Lost Generation had hosted a round of improve in the room, which was a right laugh full of many a "LEPROSY!". The Rejects had played some awful music for him and he got Scar to remind him to never go to one of their concerts. The Gluten Guys had baked him a unicorn hybrid friendly cake to eat which he rightly enjoyed. And everyone had constantly brought him food and flowers and cards to wish him well. Scar was always by his side and at least one of the other Cabin Crew members or the Villies were there too. Apparently, Pearl took hosting guests very seriously.

"You just want me up there so you can sit on my lap," Scar accused.

"So? Are you going to deny a dying man his favorite chair?" Scott said it with all the fake drama he could muster.

Scar snorted, moving up to the bed to sit next to Scott, "you thankfully aren't dying anymore."

He was still bedridden, as he became dizzy when he stood up, he still needed to eat a but ton of magical substances to recover his reserves, and he would probably never be able to cast Exhaustive Level Spells again, but he couldn't be happier.

The reveal to the server that he was secretly a unicorn hybrid went better than expected. Most were pleasantly surprised, ("A unicorn hybrid? Dude, that's so cool!" "Absolutely agree with Dippledop over here, I think that's amazing!") Some were shocked, ("I would've never guessed! You know, I love horses and unicorns are basically just magic horses.") And some had already knew, some how. ("Mate, you can't think that we have known each other for decades without me finding out. Bloody hell, we were on CrazyCraft together. I invited you to my wedding!") ("Yeah, I kinda knew that. It's just a little obvious, you know? You reak of unicorn. And what kind of zombie would I be if I couldn't identify your scent?") ("I knew." "How?" "Let's just say, I 'overheard' you talking about it.") ("Do you realize how easy it was figure out, mate? I've known it since Double Life, you don't get soul bound to someone without figuring out whether they were lying about their species or not. In fact, I'm surprised it took Grian telling you for you to realize I was a shapeshifter.")

Overall, very good. Maybe it had something to do with Scar also revealing to the server that he was a vex hybrid too, ("It was a long time coming. I mean, there's no need to hide it, right?") But everyone was taking this very well.

He scooted across the bed till he was placed comfortably atop Scar's lap, his tail tightly wrapping around Scar's torso.

"You know, I am a little worried about returning to Hermitcraft when Past Life is over."

Scott twisted around to face Scar, "why?"

"Cub. He won't be happy that I revealed that I was a vex hybrid to the server."

"Hey, if it makes you feel better, I'm worried for the end of Past Life too. I don't have a server to go to, nor do I have the ability to disguise myself anymore. I'll… I'll be a massive target."

"You know, I could ask Xisuma if you could join! Hermitcraft is fully safe and just as hybrid friendly as here! I mean, our admin is a voidwalker for crying out loud, you can't get any more rare a species than that!"

"No… no you cannot. Except for maybe a Watcher or Listener, but they all died out. I'll think about it, and I appreciate the offer. I really do!"

"Great! If you join, you can help me explain to Cub why I revealed myself!"

"Ah ha! You reveal your true reason for the offer, you don't want to be alone when Cub yells at you!"

Scar smirked, "Maybe…"

"Well then, let's get preparing for the explanation of a life time!"