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Color is a warning for poison.
Poison can be found everywhere: laced into smiles, dripping from words, in a delivery gone wrong, in eyes covered by a thin film of deceit, but you're too delusional to see it.
No forest animal will eat bright red berries.
Only one kind of snake can prey on poison dart frogs. The rest are smart enough to avoid it.
No deer will let a poison dart frog hitch a ride on their back. They don't live near each other, anyway.
But birds, birds are safe, right? A deer can let a bird hitch a ride, right?
Well, have you heard of the hooded pitohui?
Its feathers and skin contain the exact same toxin as poison dart frogs. It's less well known, but just as dangerous. Isn't that a great trap? Nobody would think that a bird would be able to poison anyone.
Luckily, there is no record of a pitohui ever poisoning another animal for anything but defense.
That means it'll never happen, right?
Right?
...
You're too far gone already. Too far gone to see what's right in front of your eyes.
You were as soon as you let a pitohui into your home.
The first row of feathers changed color a long time ago. It turned a bright lime green.
It started with a deer and a bird in the woods.
Rek had been so excited, too.
Too excited to notice the thoughts brewing in Parrot's mind.
Season 3. He has a clean slate, fresh white wings ready to be painted over by alliances, friendships, and the inevitable betrayals.
"Clown's here, Clown's here!" Rek screams into his communicator.
"Where?!" Branzy's shout rings through the comms.
"Um, negati-" A sword goes through his throat before he can finish.
rekrap2 was slain by ClownPierce
ParrotX2 whispers to you: wanna team up temporarily to kill clown
You whisper to ParrotX2: aren't you teamed with him
ParrotX2 whispers to you: yeah but i wanna kill him
You whisper to ParrotX2: sure
Later, they're just making a little nether portal together, when they see the "Communists" lined up on the hill behind them. Rek twitches his wings, which are colored mint green, dark blue, bright red, and multiple shades of purple.
You whisper to TheTerrain: we're having a temp alliance to kill clown
It doesn't matter. They attacked anyway.
Really shows how fragile trust can be.
Rek kills Branzy after he chases after him. Clutch kills Rek. Rek kills Branzy again.
Then they're in their new base. Clown, Ro, Spoke, Parrot, and Rek.
Not even a day in, and he's already accidentally betrayed his entire team. His wings shift to lime green, dark red, periwinkle blue, and rainbow-lined black. Any trace of purple is gone.
Parrot's wings are colored the exact same, but with ocean blue instead of lime green. The dark red, periwinkle blue, and rainbow-lined black have been there since the starting circle broke. Reliable. Unlike Rek, who just betrayed his whole team. By accident, somehow.
A few days before the end fight, Parrot wanted to show him a trap. To test it out.
"For a friend." Wasn't that what they all said? Well, it wasn't a friend. More of an enemy.
The sand collapses, and all he can think is that he could've fallen in with it. Being chased by Terrain and Poafa can do that to you.
A botanical garden. Parrot never uses fancy words like that. He'd just say "garden" or "flower room."
Why was this the only decorated building?
Parrot takes ten seconds to write two letters. What's he waiting for? TNT? A friend to pull the trap? For Rek to walk into the room?
Parrot wanted him to test it. But he wouldn't actually let him die, would he? His wings still have a row of ocean blue.
Just in case.
The shovel stabs through dirt and into empty air. The dirt falls, Parrot falls with it. No flying on Lifesteal. That was the rule. A little strange, since the entirety of the server has wings.
"I hate you," Parrot mutters as he lands between the stalagmites. Rek's laughing as he climbs out of the city. (It would have killed him, it was just to scare him a bit. Parrot was lucky to survive, Parrot tried to prank him. His mind doesn't know what to choose.)
But he knows that as long as Parrot's wings keep that row of ocean blue, Parrot doesn't hate him.
His heart is not convinced. Green fades to white.
The end fight. Rek keeps his head down and hopes Parrot doesn't try to pull anything.
There are two teams fighting for the dragon egg. A useless item, but it's fun, right?
Parrot stabs Vitalasy. Clown chases down Subz. Red is murdering Branzy somewhere over there.
The arrow pierces through Subz from fifty blocks away. Parrot looks up and smiles at him.
The dragon swoops low to the ground. They find a void trap. Parrot could easily push him in, but he doesn't.
They kill Pangi and Vortex easily, with their entire team working together. White is washed over with green again.
"We made a war room. To plan for fighting our enemies," Branzy explains. "If you could just follow us-"
Parrot's shaking his head before he even finishes.
"I don't think Parrot wants to go, Branzy," Rek laughed nervously. "But I'm fine with it." Why did you say that why did you say that frick you're gonna get trapped-
A green feather drops to the ground.
"Great! So we made this tunnel through the nether!" Branzy says brightly.
"Do you know how suspicious that is?" Rek sighs. They go in anyway.
The nether portal swirls around them. He steps out and what does he see? String, carpets, fluorescent lights assaulting his vision. Nope nope NOPE-
He turns around and runs right back to the portal when he hears the sudden movement of pistons. Parrot steps out slowly, blinking at the room around him. Rek yelps as the walls and the floor move and the cold, unpleasant feeling of the end portal washes over him. It's the end portal piston trick thing.
They end up on the obsidian platform. Rek's nerves are frayed from the bright colors, disorienting dimension travel, and loud piston and enderman noises, but he manages to laugh.
"Suck it, you lose, Branzy!"
Parrot saved him.
What are deer scared of?
To name a few: predators, loud noises, sudden movements, and unfamiliar things.
How do they respond?
Sometimes, when they're cornered, they'll fight back. Most of the time, they just stay alert. Stay vigilant, and run.
Deer don't let their guard down. Ever.
"How do you feel, Parrot?" Branzy asks through the comms.
"Just... completely defeated," Parrot sighs, sitting on the obsidian pillars.
"What? Why?" Rek stops hopping over endstone to look at him. Why was Parrot disappointed? They escaped! There's something he didn't tell you he's hiding something-
"I was in on it."
The obsidian wall cracks, echoing through the end island. Rek doesn't hear it. The obsidian is too dark, the endstone too desaturated, the bedrock too spotty. There's too much to process here. Too many memories of Parrot.
He betrayed you he betrayed you why did you think you could ever trust him-
Rek only realizes he's yanking on his own feathers when the pain jolts him out of his spiraling.
He jumps into the home portal without another word.
He finds himself back on his bed. The lime green is gone from his wings. In its place are white feathers, again. Maybe Parrot just doesn't want to see him. He brews invisibility so Parrot doesn't have to see him.
Parrot betrayed him.
ParrotX2 whispers to you: go through the waterway
"Come through the main entrance," Vitalasy calls at the same time. Rek weighs his options. Trust Vitalasy and risk a trap... or trust Parrot and risk another trap. There isn't much of a choice, is there?
Of course there is. There always is.
He bridges over the wall.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Vitalasy sputters. Rek laughs and lands on the chests laid out on the wooden path. Chests are harder to trap than the ground. He can hear every rustle of each blade of grass, every chirp of each songbird, every groan of each zombie far underground. There's green everywhere, and a slight smoky smell in the air that always lingers around Capital City. Vi's clothes flutter slightly in the breeze. The miniscule sound grates against Rek's ears.
"Okay, two destinations: one is the crafting shop." Vitalasy hops over the pressure plate and opens the door manually. And that's a bit suspicious, isn't it? There's a quiet shuffling and scraping sound from inside as Vi turns around to wait for him.
Rek tosses a stick onto the pressure plate. The floor collapses inward.
"Nope, I'm outta here!"
"No, wait- come back!" Vi pleads.
"Dude, what was that?" Parrot's laughter flows through the speaker of the comm.
"Are you gonna trap me again?" Rek asks, standing on the other side of the waterway.
"No...?" Vi looks at him meekly.
"Okay, fine. One chance."
He messages Parrot.
Parrot accepts. Why was he trying to help him now?
"Is this Parrot? I feel like this is Parrot," Vi mutters, poking the invisible player in the shoulder.
"No, that's me," Rek says from the top of Capital City's tower.
"What am I holding right now?"
Rek zooms in with a spyglass. "A golden carrot, okay? You're holding a golden carrot. Now stop poking me." Vi complies and Parrot shuffles back awkwardly.
Vitalasy tells Parrot- well, Rek, really- to stand on a block and close his eyes. Five seconds later, an anvil comes falling out of the sky and Parrot sidesteps it.
"Yo, Parrot, that worked perfectly!" Rek laughs as Parrot runs, laughing with him. In his excitement, he doesn't notice that his white feathers have changed back to green.
A game show, Subz said. Just a game show.
Rek doesn't believe a single word.
"A 50/50," Subz calls for the last question. After trying to remember random facts no sane person would pay attention to, Rek just trusts his instincts and jumps for the right side. Wind ruffles his hair as his heart jumps before the landing.(it's just a heart it's just a heart it's not just a heart)
Green feathers drift down to the ground, where he would've been if he'd chosen wrong.
Behind him, Parrot trips on the left side and falls to his death in an explosion of experience orbs and items.
Why was it always a pitfall trap?
Rek feels really stupid right about now, walking into a hole without thinking.
"H- hey, Parrot," he fumbles with the comm.
An audible sigh. "Rek. How did you fall for this."
"Look, I was tired!" Rek protests indignantly. Another sigh.
"Okay, Parrot," Subz interrupts. "We want you to come into this hole, or Rek dies."
"Can we, like, negotiate or something?" Parrot tries. Rek looks up at the granite ceiling. They're not that far down from the surface...
They're on the surface before he knows it, prey and predator. Somehow, in the chaos, Parrot dies and is held hostage. Funny how their roles have been reversed.
The four sit in a room, trying to negotiate with each other.
"Once upon a time, there was a bird..." Parrot begins.
"I'm starting to think he rigged the place," Vitalasy comments.
"Yeah, let's just slowly back away," Rek laughs nervously. it's an act so why does it feel real Pangi is coming any second now, to get Parrot out. Maybe Parrot's been trying to trap him a lot, but they're still teammates.
Green feathers drop to the stone floor alongside a few droplets of blood.
He makes it to the surface just as Pangi bursts through the ground and drags Parrot into the tunnel. There's a lot of shouting from Vi and Subz, but they're free.
"Welcome to the Museum of Traps," Parrot sweeps his arms out in a grand gesture. The movement doesn't help Rek's pounding heart.
"Do you remember this? The desert city trap-" the one that you trapped me in
"The armor stand one-" stop reminding me
"The moss trap-"
"What moss trap?"
Parrot turns to face him with a confused expression on his face. Either he's actually confused or he's an award-winning actor.
"The moss trap. With Leo."
"I've never been in a moss trap, Parrot."
"Yes, you have. You were by yourself, I think." stop gaslighting me stop it
Bloodstained feathers drop to the ground.
"No- no, that's never happened-"
"Why don't you walk over here, Rek?" Parrot's voice drops about twenty degrees. Rek tightens his grip around the long green feathers on his wings.
"Wouldn't it be poetic," Rek starts. "wouldn't it be funny, if you said 'and here's the moss trap.' I've never been in a moss trap. And then you trap me." His wings sting. He's never yanked out that many at a time.
"Rek, just come over here."
His feet move involuntarily. And then there's a blur of movement, and the ground opens under his feet and he's scrambling back into the safety of a crevice in the wall and Parrot's holding a pickaxe-
There's water at the bottom.
Good job, the lectern reads.
"I planned that whole thing with Vi and Subz," Parrot tells him. what the frick what he did it again this is why we can't have nice things
"I've been a double agent for the last six months." How did Parrot always manage to screw up his mind this much? The thoughts hurtling through his consciousness were hardly coherent at this point. why does it just keep going just stop it is this all a lie is he just messing with me again
They're standing in the hallway, a clump of green feathers littering the ground next to them.
"The trust diamond is a sham," Parrot says. "We're going to scam Reddoons."
The trust diamond. Rek poured his soul into protecting that little diamond, and Parrot tells him it was worth nothing?
No wonder the other lost it. He reaches up to the pendant with the diamond hanging on it.
"So... what do I do with this?"
"Just keep up the act," Parrot smiles, but there's something fake, something poisonous, lacing the friendly gesture. "Pretend that everything's normal." like what you're doing?
"...yeah. Yeah, okay."
Rek's feathers turn white as he walks home.
Then the Cleansing happens.
"Welcome to Team Chaos," Clown grins at him. Rek returns it with a smile, studying his teammates. Parrot is there, of course. He always is.
Branzy and Ash greet him. They seem to not hold anything against him from day one anymore. Ash looks bored, while Branzy has an unhinged grin on his face.
"Basically, our goal is to steal hearts from mainly the Cleansers, but also the Dirties at the end. We cause chaos, as our team name suggests," Clown explains.
"Okay," Rek nods. They'd all just reset next season, anyway. The only thing that really carried over seasons was psychological damage.
Parrot smiles at him. "Glad you're here!"
But of course, Parrot betrays them all on Cleansing Day, after they blow up Branzy's castle.
He walks into the chaos with a lazy grin on his face that rivals Spoke's permanent expression and hops onto a pillar.
"Members of Lifesteal!" he calls. "Clown, Ash, Branzy, and Rek are part of a separate faction called Team Chaos. They're here to betray you all!"
"Yeah! Everyone kill Clown's team!" Zam shouted from the audience. The audience turns, but they're all gone. Shouts of confusion fill the air.
Four invisible people watch from afar. Rek's mind is filled with constant whispers of why did he do it again of course he did you can't trust him you can't trust anyone-
"Are you okay?" Clown's concerned voice breaks into his thoughts. Rek realizes the invisibility has worn off and his fingers are clenched around a handful of green feathers. There are a few more bloody feathers on the ground.
"Y- yeah," he responds distractedly.
Clown watches him worriedly. "Be careful with your wings, alright?"
Rek nods mutely and wonders why Parrot's wings never gave away his allegiances. Clown's wings have already lost the lime green color. Rek's wings haven't.
Back at his base, Rek waits for his green feathers to turn white again. They always do after Parrot betrays him. Dark red and two shades of purple sit comfortably above the green, which stubbornly doesn't change color. Rek frowns and tugs at it in confusion.
12:00 AM. They're still green.
2:00 AM. They're still green. Rek splashes invis to hide the color.
4:00 AM. They're still green, and visible now. Rek can't sleep. He doesn't want anything to do with Parrot. He's your friend he betrayed you he's your friend he betrayed you HE'S YOUR FRIEND HE BETRAYED YOU HE'S YOUR FRIEND HE BETRAYED YOU HE BETRAYED YOU-
Rek gets up. The stony walls darken slightly as he heads away from his bedroom. Nobody knows where he lives. He won't be trapped here, but there's always the lingering paranoia hovering in the air. It's a little too close to one of Clown's bases.
The deepslate is cool through his jacket, which he wears everywhere, even to bed. He never knows when someone might find him sleeping in his base, so it's a precaution. Just a precaution. Just like the five exit tunnels, pufferfish player sensor, shulker of potions by his bed, three fake bases across the server, and falsely linked nether portal that can never go to his base.
And, of course, the precautionary invisibility whenever he goes outside. Nobody can trap him if they don't even know who he is, right?
Just a precaution.
Green flickers at the edge of his vision as his wings twitch restlessly. The feathers still haven't changed color.
he doesn't want Parrot to mark him like this, like a mockery of his destroyed mind, a reminder of the fact that Parrot can leave him at any time but Rek will always be dependent on him because his stupid mind won't let go-
Pain stings his wing as a handful of long green feathers flutter to the ground. It doesn't help.
just stop it the server won't listen because they want the glory the prestige of trapping an untrappable player and they wont care if hte title is unwnated adn theyll jsut keep messnig wth your mind
Rek curls his fingers around another handful of feathers and tugs them out harshly. The feathers on the ground and on his wing are more red than green by this point, but that's fine, as long as any sign of Parrot is gone-
Blood pools on the deepslate, broken by the occasional feather as red consumes the green. Rek winces as the sound of running water from a nearby cave makes his head pound. His vision's slightly blurry. That's bad. He needs it to check to see if anyone's coming to kill him.
It's only when he looks down that he realizes that there's so much blood staining the deepslate. It pools in every crack, and bloody feathers litter the dark floor.
Water rushes somewhere distant.
"Hey, Rek! I know it's kinda weird that I'm in your base, but do you have any spare invis potions?" a voice calls out. Rek's foggy mind attempts to discern the voice, but it's too muddled to find out.
The voice huffs. "Are you hiding in the cabinet again?" Oh, right, he'd hidden in a cabinet once when he thought there were people in his base. One of his teammates had found him. Who was it again?
Footsteps continue towards him until they reach the entrance of the hallway.
"Oh, shit."
A black glove lands on his shoulder and he flinches back, one wing crushed awkwardly against the wall. Blood pours out of it. The walls spin slightly and he can make out a swirl of... some color leaning over him. Deepslate closes in on his vision, making the hallway seem much, much smaller than it should be. Are the walls moving?
The figure leans down and Rek can only make out an outline of a face before the color of the void washes over his vision.
Parrot stands in front of him. The room is oval-shaped, and the walls are white. The ground is made of stone bricks.
"Parrot?" Rek blinks in surprise. "Why are we here?"
Parrot just smiles at him and a pickaxe appears in his hands, smashing down into the floor. Rek screams as a huge hole appears in the floor and he falls down, landing on spruce planks. Parts of it are glitching out. Yellow, pink, green, blue, red, and black overtake the blocks. Parrot stands over him.
"Do you remember this, Rek?" he asks, holding up a pendant with a little diamond on the end. Engraved on it are the tiny words "TRUST DIAMOND". Rek reaches up to his own and finds it cracked and chipped. The two pieces no longer fit together perfectly like the used to. It shatters entirely in his hands. The shards tear huge holes in the spruce and send him falling down to the next floor.
Parrot's there again, writing in a notepad. The floor is covered in red carpets and string. Rek is careful not to move, since anything could be triggered. A nether portal forms in the middle of the room and a white-haired figure steps out.
"Branzy?" Rek calls uncertainly. A flicker of green appears in the corner of his eye. He spins around, but it's jut another glitching block.
Branzy turns around, and his face is completely blank as he pushes a lever that causes the glitching to overtake the entire floor. Rek covers his ears as the horrible clanking of pistons and other machinery screech loud enough to shatter glass.
The next on is half granite, glass. Somehow, he can't see anything beyond the glass.
Parrot's still there, writing away in that notepad of his.
Two figures, one with cat ears and one with fox features stand facing away. As Rek hits the floor, they turn around. Their eyes look like the void, completely black and empty of irises or pupils. Parrot smiles and scribbles something down in his notepad.
Vitalasy and Subz grin menacingly and purple crystals smash through the floor. Rek runs, and the high-pitched cackling follows. He still falls.
Parrot's leaning against the wall, that god-awful notepad in hand. Terrain's there in a suit with a thick book, flipping through the pages. Rek takes a step back and Terrain's head snaps up, eyes glowing red. The book, which Rek realizes is the contract, morphs into a bomb on command and blows up the floor.
Parrot's sitting cross-legged on the ground. Leo and Spepticle stand in front of him. Armor stands litter the room, parting only around the four people in the room. Potions rain from the sky, and the shards slash the flimsy vinyl net floor open.
Parrot's lying upside-down on the ground and writing in that notepad. Clouds obscure his face and anvils break through the spruce flooring.
Parrot walks forward.
The floor is made of sand. Sand can't float, right?
The entire floor collapses and he sees a blur of color before a notepad is dropped into his hands.
Rekrap2
- extreme paranoia
- sensitive to loud sounds
- sensitive to bright/flashing lights
- overthinking
- fear response: running
- fear of pitfall traps especially
- overly cautious
- easily scared
- easy to manipulate in shows of trust
- easy to manipulate with sentimental objects
- too trusting with teammates
- stands in doorways
Parrot took notes on him. On his mind.
The void reaches up and Rek catches a glimpse of Parrot's poisonous smile before it kills him. Death by a pitfall trap, always.
Rek wakes up in a room with birch flooring and glazed terracotta walls.
There's a lamp on a bedside table next to him with a note on it. In terrible handwriting.
hi Rek!
I went out to gather resources. You're welcome to stay here as long as you want! Please be careful, I was really worried when you passed out. There was a LOT of blood. Please don't do that again. Stay safe! :D
- Clown
So that person had been Clown. Rek notices that his wings are bandaged. The green feathers were gone, torn out by his own hands. He'd almost killed himself by accident. Branzy and Ash are sleeping on the couch next to him, but blink awake when Rek sits up.
"Oh, you're awake," Ash yawned.
"Sorry for taking up your time, uh, thanks, but I gotta go-" Rek panics.
"Nope," Branzy mutters sleepily. He drags Rek onto the couch, into his lap. Branzy is much taller, so it's easy for him to rest his chin on top of Rek's head and wrap his wings around him. Rek tenses at the touch, and the feeling of being trapped with no escape routes-
Branzy runs a hand through his feathers and Rek relaxes involuntarily, closing his eyes sleepily.
"He's like a cat," Ash snorts from next to them. Branzy laughs as Rek drifts off.
When he wakes up, Ash and Branzy are both gone.
He scribbles out a quick thank-you and apology for taking up Clown's time, leaves half a stack of golden apples, then jumps out the window of his casino. It's a two-story fall, but Rek manages to water-bucket-clutch it before he breaks a bone. Then he runs as far as he can before collapsing and makes a completely new base.
Decimation.
It's the original Clout Team again, plus Leo and Branzy. Three of the people who tried to kill him are on the same team as him, but Rek especially stays far, far away from Parrot. Is he going to betray them again?
"We want to ban everyone off the server," Clown tells them. The room nods in agreement. Branzy's draped over his shoulder, Parrot's bent over the map, Spoke's sitting cross-legged in the corner, Ro's sharpening a sword, Leo's cleaning his mask off, and Rek's leaning against the wall.
The walls won't break anytime soon. He hopes.
At some point in their little war, Zam mentions something about his mental health. Something to do with constant betrayal, suspicion, and hopelessness. Rek didn't hear a lot of it, because his blood was rushing to his ears and his heart was pounding too fast.
It's too similar to Parrot. He can't deal with being like Parrot.
So he writes a note. A note to all his Decimation teammates.
Dear Decimation,
I'm sorry the last thing I did was betray you. I'm sorry I couldn't stay and help you end the war. But the moment I heard Zam give his little speech, I couldn't take it anymore. Sorry, I suck at words. So here's your individual letters.
Leo,
I want you to have my armor set. Seems fitting, doesn't it? You tried to kill me with armor stands (I forgave you a long time ago), so you get my armor, I guess. Please be careful with your friendships. Psychological damage carries over seasons.
Ro,
I'd like to give you my set of tools. You're pretty good at dealing with that stuff, and I don't want you to have to replace your set too much. Thanks for accepting me at the start of the server. It was good fighting against you during the Cleansing, too. Good luck.
Spoke,
I know you specialize in mind games, but please be careful. I don't want anyone to get PTSD from this experience. They were our friends, and they still are, in a way. Be careful with your relationships and for the love of void, TONE DOWN YOUR SWEARING A LITTLE. SPEPTICLE IS ELEVEN YEARS OLD. Have fun.
Branzy,
I know you messed up my trust quite a few times this season, but that's all forgiven. I don't want to hold grudges since I already got over it. You can have my dog Hashtag. Please take care of him. I left him at -36879, 2567. Hope you and Clown start going on actual dates soon.
Clown,
Thank you for teaming with me this entire season. Thank you for helping me when I passed out in my base. I want you to have all of my other stuff (share some with Branzy, but you're more responsible). Hope you and Branzy date in your own special way and win the war. Please be careful and don't damage anyone's minds too much. I better not see any traumatized people next season. Hope to see you then. You were a good teammate. Keep an eye out for Hashtag, will you? I already know you'll do it for Branzy :)
Parrot,
Was it fun? Was it fun messing up my psyche until I couldn't tell friend from enemy? What did you even have to gain from tearing my mind to shreds? If you betray them this season, you're dead the next.
Frick you.
To Decimation,
Maybe what we're doing is morally wrong, but just stay together. Keep healthy relationships. I gave my hearts to Zam because the rest of the server was talking about how they felt hopeless. This whole letter probably sounded really cheesy, but stay safe. Goodbye.
- Rek
The very next day, he asked Zam to kill him. Zam left blue flowers at his death spot.
Clown found the letter on the meeting table, and they made a grave.
Parrot simmers silently the whole time. The deer ended up escaping the trap, after all. The pitohui's poison had to wear off eventually.