Chapter Text
Tango feels suffocated, not in the way with sand or gravel, which apparently can suffocate you, no, he feels deep in his chest, like a snake slithering between his organs and making him feel nauseous and lightheaded, the cause of this could be many things, maybe the thick, warm air of the nether, maybe his constantly anxious way of life, or it could be the wet, strangely chemical smelling rag currently placed over his mouth... wait- what?
As always, Tango woke up with a feeling of dread in his gut, being born and raised in the nether will do that to you, though he had his own house (even if it was more of a shack) and was living fine, not everyone lived this way, most people living in the nether lived horribly, torn clothes, little rations, not to mention the lack of water, which you could only get from warped fungus mushrooms, and the constant fear of other people. Though being hybrids especially born to live out their lives in this dry and weary place, all living beings need water, and so did they, but as nether hybrids, you also couldn't have to much, Tango knew this from experience, as for the fear of others, well, there's not always much food to go around.
Tango got up out of bed and quickly threw on his only other pair of clothes, (other than his pajamas) red pants with a red shirt, and a dark grey, sleeveless jacket over top. He walked out into his kitchen, if you could even call it that, it was a campfire surrounded by rocks, and a bucket of almost completely evaporated water sitting next to each other on the the hard ground of crimson planks, nearby, a chest sat, empty, he'd have to go foraging today, or else... Tango sighed and looked back to his "cozy" bed of a few blankets and a pillow, this was the life, wasn't it?
As he walked out of his humid and empty house, he was greeted by a gust of hot, dense wind like a slap in the face, causing his firey hair to whip concerningly close to his wooden shed of a house, though the strange gust wind had now died down, the anxiety stayed, going outside of his "humble abode" was always a cause for concern, he could fall into a lava pool, or, have to end up fighting for his food, which had happened before, (he'd lost miserably, leaving him with a few small scars), but no matter, if he didn't go out he would die, and of course he wanted to be "man enough" too, he'd have to be, that's what his father always told him, "be a man and go out and fight, if you don't learn now, what will happen to your wife and kids? do you want them to die?" and of course he didn't, so now, he has to learn, even if he already knows.
Luckily, the heat didn't affect Tango's anxiety! It was boiling today, which explained the lack of water in his bucket this morning, well, it never really got cold either, which worked out quite well for him, but even today was especially for him annoying to walk through due to the heat. Tango slid himself slowly down a steep clif, and steadied himself on a the surprisingly moist ground of the warped forest at the bottom of the slope, it was a large open area filled with purple tree trunks glowing softly due to the strokes of cyan flowing through the bark, there were turquoise vines everywhere, making it hard to see very far into the forest, no matter, he was looking to the ground for what he needed anyway.
Trudging through the vines and low hanging branches, Tango grew more and more anxious, there were no mushrooms to be seen and the natural rustle of the forest's leaves seemed to have dispersed into the vast open air of the nether, which wasn't as natural as he would like it to be, realising this, he looked around himself, he didn't recognize any trees, that's fine! He'd just turn around and walk back from where he came from! Which way did he come from...?
CRUNCH
Tango spun around to look where the sound came from, only to be met with empty air, "Hello!?" he yelled out, silence "Hello!?" he shouted out again, voice wobbily, but to no avail, shakily sighing, he went to continue, but something snagged him, figuring it was just a stray tree branch, he went to tug it off,
SLAP
something knocked his hand away
"wha-" he was met with a wet rag being placed to his mouth, it smelled of chemicals, suffocating him, he tried to scream, tugging at the mysterious arm around his head, without thinking, he went to throw his head back, hoping to knock out or burn the face his attacker, but in return his head was pushed forward, forcing him onto his knees and making his neck lean uncomfortably far forward, still, he tried to wriggle out of the tight grasp his captor had on him, trying his best to make the fire on his head purposefully brighter and bigger, hoping to get the person to let go, yet still, this someone held on, this time, hitting Tango in the back of the head with a hard, solid object, he gasped in pain, now lightheaded,
he felt more suffocated than he had before, almost like it was deep in his chest, like a snake slithering through his head and organs, huh... weird, he felt.. tired, maybe a quick nap wouldn't hurt? Yeah... wait... no! He can't give up yet! He had to keep fighting, if he didn't fight, what would his father think? How would he explain to him that he was weak enough to get caught by who knows what! He can't... give.. up...
and yet, he had let himself go limp, and he let the world as he knew it turn black.